Running Dragons

Perhaps no other mythical being is more fascinating and revered than the dragon in China. So ingrained is the respect amongst the Chinese for the powers of this legendary creature that it has come to represent their race and culture, aside from symbolizing authority, might, good fortune, virility, immortality, and eternal happiness. In fact, the Chinese people consider themselves as descendants of the dragon! Parents wish for their newborn sons to become future dragons – intelligent, successful, wise, happy, and always at the top of their game!

It is now my 16th time in dragonland. I first came here in 1996 when China was only beginning to open up its borders. Since then, I have made the at-least-once-a-year journey, all in line with my work. Witness was I to the demolition of towns to accommodate 8-lane superhighways, the building of skyscrapers with bamboo as scaffolding, the replacement of bicycles with name-brand cars, the increasing fashion-sense of both the teen and adult population, yes, practically the evolution of China into a superpower – a dragon’s personification.

So familiar did I later become with some science aspects of the country that I led the writing of a book on the topic. Cognizant was I also of the societal changes taking place that I sometimes wondered that if only those in leftist rebel movements knew as much, perhaps they would be tempted to change course. In all these, I experienced the warmth and hospitality while seeing the grit and determination of the Chinese peoples. And Chinese friends I gained lots of. But all these would be non-running stories. So, I will digress.

In running, this would be only my second time to do so in dragonland. The first was last year, around the beautiful West Lake in the silk capital city of Hangzhou, said to be the favorite city of the late Chairman Mao Zedong. This time, I am running in Guangzhou and Wuhan, the most populous cities in the southern and central Chinese provinces of Guangdong and Hubei, respectively. Aside from being major economic and industrial hubs, both cities are also education and science centers, hosting famous universities and academies of sciences and engineering.  Which explains my presence in these parts.

Guangzhou, more popularly known in the West as Canton, has many parks and gardens, including the famous Baiyun Mountain, on which to do some running. However, if one is hard-pressed for time, the red brick-laden sidewalks along its new superhighways are perfect running tracks, especially in early mornings. It is, however, easy to get lost, and the street signs written in 漢字 are of little help. Thus, look for architectural landmarks to guide your return run. You can also run just on the left side of the road until you decide to make a U-turn. This technique, however, will alow you to see only half of what you would have seen had you traveled a straight path. For instance, although my run in Guangzhou was about 13K long, I was able to visually soak-in only 10K worth of the surroundings.

In Wuhan, the major metropolis in central China, running could be more challenging in early spring. The air temperature could be in the low teens or even lower if you add the wind chill factor. Thus it is best to use cool weather running gear or at least a pair of jogging pants and a sweatshirt. Good running places include university campuses, with their spacious and traffic-scarce streets or track ovals, public parks near apartment clusters, and even the banks of the Yangtze River. I was lucky to have come in early spring, perfect timing for witnessing cherry blossoms in full bloom - a rare and much-anticipated event. If you prefer running in the evening, as I did without prior scouting of the route, it is best to stick to pedestrian paths along major streets and to an uncomplicated to and fro route. In my case, after viewing the Garmin GPS data of my 11K run in GoogleEarth, I realized that I could have actually circled the major downtown area had I been less conservative with my running route. The choice to be more daring is certainly yours.

While China has produced 110m hurdles Olympic champion and former world record holder Liu Xiang, probably more famous locally than NBA star Yao Ming, I noted that the Chinese are more into Tai Chi than into running at the moment. However, a pleasant surprise was to find home-grown manufacturers of running apparel, such as http://www.anta.com/, perhaps indicative of the local promise of the sport. But during this trip, there were also things I missed that were running-related. I couldn't, for example, access this blog, check the status of our marathon training on a group's fan page, or tweet my followers. Just one more proof that in running, as in life, even in the land of dragons, one cannot have them all. 

Still, just the same, 谢谢 (Xie xie) !