this afternoon i read a sign which advised me not to allow my thoughtfulness to become extravagant, lest it damage my spleen, so i will keep this post unambitious. the sign was in temple of earth park, a few blocks north of here, where there is a medicinal garden. i mostly went there to break up my day – sitting in my hutong in front of a laptop is a waste of good beijing – but ended up engrossed in watching croquet. there were six consecutive games going on, on separate pitches, but they seemed to be timed – there was an argument at the end of the first when a bell went and a controversial winner was declared. the referees were very attentive and fun to watch. their version of the game might have been designed for speed, as there were only three hoops.

the wonderful thing about this artist-in-residence idleness is that i get to spend a lot of time in public spaces, and here that means spending it with old people. this is not something i do at home, where the old people tend to be locked indoors. china is the heartland of retirement hobbies – there are too many to list, and it’s a delight to wander around watching them. older people don’t really bother about the strange foreigner in their midst. sometimes they will casually chat with me, even though i have no idea what they are saying – it doesn’t seem to matter to either of us. it’s as though some obligation to make sense has been lifted. i am quite looking forward to this.

i also enjoy the casual involvement of everyone in each other’s business. i realise the implications of this have not always been benevolent in china’s recent history. but when a group of grown men are gathered around a man whose kite has got stuck in a tree, offering him advice and sympathy, it is hard not to be charmed. last week i rode home along a canal in chaoyang which cut through a neighbourhood of towering apartment blocks and mega hotels. with only knee-deep mud in the canal, there were a bunch of men stamping around down there catching fish with their bare hands. (heavy metal poisoning anyone?) on the overpass where i stopped my bike, a small crowd had gathered to watch, call out encouragement, and point out fish. despite the growing rich/poor divide here, there are many pockets of comradeship around.

i know i am probably not supposed to treat this residency as an early taste of retirement, but it is so soothing to be around older people who also have nothing really important to do with their day. even if there’s the odd bout of croquet rage, beijing’s public spaces are blessed enclosures of tranquility, and offer much respite from the chaos and class divides of the city’s traffic… but that’s another post.

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update, 31-10: i couldn’t leave you with that muddy image…