A Walk in the Park in Beijing – Mary MacVean

The LA Times gives a portrait of Beijing’s Ritan Park:

For 25 years, I’ve been a faithful, if sluggish, runner. I’ve wound my way through the Latin Quarter of Paris before dawn, slogged along the ice-rutted sidewalks of Moscow’s winter, watched dolphins play in the Pacific Ocean off L.A.

So I shrugged off the world-class pollution and heat of Beijing and, for a few weeks, headed most mornings to Ritan Park, 50 or so carefully tended acres huddled near the city center amid Russian cargo businesses, embassies, restaurants and bars. The reward? An especially sweet slice of summer life. [Full text]

[Image: Dance class in Ritan Park, via Los Angeles Times]