Early birds flock to city for park life

All Chinese cities have their own individual characters, but they have one thing in common: Their parks teem with health-conscious urbanites.

As an early bird, I see scenes in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region that are the same as those in Tiantan Park, Beijing, or Zhongshan Park in Wuhan. At the People's Park in downtown Yulin, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, local residents start to trickle in at 5:30, as dawn breaks.

They arrive with tennis rackets and jump ropes; some in sportswear, some in bare feet. Soon, the park is transformed into choruses of singers, there is soft music for dancing, and the patter of feet walking well-worn stone paths.