We got up early to go for an early morning walk in the park that goes along the city wall. In the mornings this park is a gathering point for old people, and they use it for all kinds of activities (the same thing happens in parks all around China). The park lies in the shadow of the city wall, a long, narrow strip between the wall and a river. There is a path with pale green trees on each side.  The old people were doing Tai Chi, something similar with swords, different kind of gymnastics to music, ballroom dancing and exercises on different kinds of equipment (balance as much as strength) available in the park. A few did their exercises alone, but most activities happened in groups. A lot of them looked incredibly vigorous. There were also groups of people playing old instruments and singing, or just sitting around talking, playing cards etc. Quite a few of the old men had brought their birds with them for ”airing”. They had the birds in little round cages with beautiful hooks so that they could hang them up in a tree or similar. They had small ceramic cups in white and blue in the cages for food and water.

An episode occurred on the way out of the park. An old lady came walking towards me. She wore a mao-suit, she had a wrinkled face with no teeth and a cane. She walked unsteadily, but it took me some time to realise that she actually had bound feet, with the tiniest black shoes. She was probably close to 100 years old, and she looked it. As she came walking my way she noticed my camera. I had it hanging around my neck because I had just taken a picture of some bird cages. She came over to me, took a hold of the camera and my arm, and started to talk excitedly. Needless to say, I have absolutely no clue as to what she said. I don’t know if she was upset because she believed that I had taken a picture of her, or if she was upset because she wanted me to take a picture of her. Anyway, we were soon surrounded by a bunch of elderly Chinese. The old lady was very agitated, and it ended with 3 or 4 people holding her back while I sneaked away. I have still no idea why that happened, but Kath was a witness to this incident, and she thought the old lady might have thought that I had a Polaroid camera, and that she wanted her picture taken and thought she could get it right away. I don't know.

After this we walked through busy city streets and a fruitmarket all the way to the shopping center next to the Bell Tower to have breakfast at Deli France and buy supplies for the next trainride. Instant noodles, lollies and fruit. Then back to the hotel to shower and pack. I had problems packing because of the shopping I had done, and we were not even half way. Before noon we left for the station to take the overnight train to Chengdu. This time we had soft sleepers. I shared a compartment with Kath and two Chinese men. It was hot, the trip lasted 19 hours, and we had no air-condition. But it went surprisingly well.