XIAN, China — Last night as we came out of a restaurant in Xian, China we found a group of more than 50 people on a side street doing line dancing.
Everywhere you go in China you see people moving. I know that after I had lost 125 pounds a physical fitness expert said, "Now you have the weight off, just keep moving and moving." Here in China moving is a way of life.
China is the bike capital of the world. In Beijing there are 16 million people and 10 million bikes. They even have bike lanes with bike stop lights. If someone is not riding a bike they are walking. Exercise, along with having a diet mostly of fruits and vegetables, contributes to the healthful lifestyle that is found in China.
With the arrival of Western food and the love of McDonalds, KFC and Pizza Hut, more and more of the young people in China are becoming heavier.
Exercising in the parks throughout the country is just part of the daily life of a senior citizen. Men and women in China retire around 60, and it is their responsibility to keep themselves healthy.
In the Temple of Heaven, a park in Beijing, there are more than 50,000 people that go to the park to socialize, exercise and enjoy the outdoors each day.
I have seen senior citizens do activities there that I have only seen kids do in America.
A few years ago, I was in China for a month. As the guide of several tours that came from the states, we walked though the Temple of Heaven to watch the Chinese do their daily exercise. At that time I weighed more than 240 pounds. Each time I would go though the park I met a lady who stood about 5 feet tall. I did not speak Chinese and she did not speak English, but she came to me one day and placed her hands on both sides of my thighs. She moved her hands to show me that I could lose weight. She then took me over to a fence and proceeded to demonstrate to me what I should do in order to lose the weight.
I returned the next year having lost more than 35 pounds. When I saw her she lit up like a bright light and came running to give me a hug. She was thrilled that I had lost weight.
When you go though the parks in China you will see them doing Tai Chi sword, Tai Chi ball and Tai Chi fan. I have also participated in several other games that I have not seen in America. The games are designed to keep the participants moving and give daily exercise.
When I stop and play with them I am always amazed at how fast the time passes. One day I stopped in a park in Shanghai and watched several people play badminton. They noticed me standing on the side and motioned for me to come and play with them. I took them up on the offer.
It had been more than 30 years since I had played badminton. As I got good enough to get the birdie over the net several times, they would beam and say, "Gooda, gooda." I knew they were happy to play with me and to see me improve.
After an hour and half I was exhausted, and they all gathered and said to me in their broken English, "Tomorrow, tomorrow. "
In China, health is a major priority. It is amazing to find a country of well over a billion people that are concerned about a healthful lifestyle. In my observation, I would guess that there are no more than 1 percent of the Chinese people who are overweight.
TV personality and author Dian Thomas shares her journey of weight loss, exercise and life on the run every other Tuesday in the Deseret News and at www.DianThomas.com. Her weekly blog also runs Mondays at deseretnews.com, and she takes tour groups to China. Contact her at www.dianthomas.com/travel.htm. E-mail: features@desnews.com