Beijing bustles.

There are ducks to roast, cell phones to sell, bumpkins to fleece and towers to build. Taxis swerve past SUVs, buses cut off motor-carts. Pedestrians scatter. It's overwhelming - the manic pace of Chinese development.

When people here tire of racing and honking and drilling, they chat and they cook and they eat. Sometimes, they also escape - into Beijing's neighborhood parks.

Parks here are quiet. During the week, it's grandparents and grandbabies who visit. On the weekend, families and couples come too. Tai Chi is a popular park activity. Its devotees' slow, measured movements hint at what Beijing used to be - a city wrapped tight in tradition.

The 'new' capital's buses and subways are chronically crowded, its dance clubs and fast food restaurants packed through the night. Amidst much social and physical change, neighborhood parks offer Beijingers something Wo Er Ma (Wal-Mart) can't: peace of mind.

Tai Chi is just the beginning. There's plenty to see and to do. Every morning in Yuyuantan (Deep Jade Pool) Park, off Beijing's West Third Ring Road, rambunctious middle-aged men strip on the banks of a half-frozen lake and plunge in. Scores of seniors, grasping what look like over-sized ping-pong paddles, dance, guiding small rubber balls through the air.

Calligraphers paint Chinese characters on the park's stone-cobbled paths - dipping their brushes in buckets of water and squatting to lecture a crowd. Couples launch into a waltz nearby.

'Park Sounds' - leave Beijing's busy streets behind and pick out the noises listed below (please allow time for audio to load):

'Park Sounds': construction - the radio - birds chirping - choral practice - a friendly quarrel
- jianzi (similar to hacky-sack) - creaky exercise machines - a string quartet

Yuyuantan isn't Beijing's most famous park - that's Beihai (North Lake) Park - but it boasts a colorful history all the same. Located east of Yuetan (Temple of the Moon), Yuyuantan was once known as Diaoyutai (Anglers' Terrace). During China's Jin dynasty (1113-1234) an official hid there disguised as a fisherman. The Jin emperor Zhangzong may have fished at Diaoyutai as well.

"Grass grows lushly on Yuyuantan/
The gurgling spring flows into distant streams/
Weeping willows line the dykes before darkening hills/
Peach blossoms float on the water at sunset."

So a poet wrote, eight centuries ago.

A number of ornate, imperial structures once graced Diaoyutai; by 1949 and the Communist take-over, most had been destroyed. Today, a bus stop, a neighborhood and a government guest-house - where Mao Zedong's wife watched American films and sat out the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) - bear the name.

Built in 1959, the 15-villa guesthouse has hosted Mikhail Gorbachev and Princess Diana. Richard Nixon met Chinese Prime Minister Zhou Enlai there in 1972. A villa (including 40 private attendants) runs about US$20,000 - per night.

When Diaoyutai/Yuyuantan's original lake was expanded in 1956, city workers planted poplars and willows on its banks. Today, bridges, rock gardens and small picture-book hills can be also found. Peaceful during the winter, Yuyuantan attracts hordes of Beijingers every spring. In April, they swarm to the park with cameras and parasols to enjoy blossoming fruit trees (diplomatic gifts from Japan).

Like much of Beijing, Yuyuantan is currently under construction. Banners posted along the lake promise stunning new vistas, paid for with Olympic money.

I spent an afternoon in the park, chatting up locals with the help of a Chinese friend.

"Recently there have been lots of improvements," an elderly man on a walk with his wife told us. "We're proud of how the Games are bettering Beijing's environment - even parks like this one are under renovation. They added stone steps to that hill. With the steps, it's much safer."

"We're old, so we plan to watch the competitions at home - we won't go to the Games," his wife said. "We know very little about the Olympics."

Not true. Like most Beijingers, these two were clearly informed.

"The air is better these days," said the man. "We now have more than 260 clean days a year. Unfortunately, it's impossible for the government to eliminate all of Beijing's pollution right away. We have to be patient - our environment is slowly improving."

My friend and I interviewed a young couple as well.

"We applied for Olympics tickets on the Internet months ago," said the young woman, a 25 year old banker. "But the Games are so popular here - there aren't enough tickets. Beijing's organizing committee must select applicants randomly. We probably won't be selected, even though we booked tickets for every event."

One and a half million tickets for the 2008 Olympics were allocated during a first round of sales last summer. Applicants were awarded tickets by lottery.

Phase Two was supposed to be different - 'first come, first served' - starting October 30, 2007. But the organizing committee's online ticketing system, designed to handle 150,000 applications per hour, had - three hours in - received 20 million hits. It crashed, Phase Two was postponed and Beijing's head of ticket sales, Rong Jun, was chastised, then fired. Only 9,000 tickets were sold.

Rong's fellow officials regrouped. They collected 340,000 Phase Two applications, accounting for two million Olympics tickets, between December 10 and December 30, 2007. As with Phase One, applicants will be awarded tickets by lottery. Rhythmic gymnastics, table tennis and diving have proven especially popular.

"Overall, we believe that the Games have been good to Beijing," said the young man, a publishing house editor. "Tickets or no tickets, the Olympics are still beneficial. But I wish we'd had more time to prepare. The stadiums and athletic facilities will be fine, but our new subways are being built hastily. Their quality can't be guaranteed."

In terms of hosting the Olympics, I asked, are Beijing's officials doing a good job?

"It's very unlikely that there will be problems during the Games," he replied. "But the government hasn't given enough thought to what will happen after the Olympics. They've been focused on this single event. In the future there will be problems, perhaps."

We stopped to chat with three 10 year olds skipping home - two pig-tailed girls and a shy chunk of a boy.

"We love the Olympic Games!" they cheered.

Why?

"Because we'll go on holiday!"

"He's the Olympics newsboy for our school," one of the girls told me.

"Yes, I read the news to my classmates five days a week," said the boy.

What kind of Olympic news do you read? I inquired.

"Just news about athletes, the environment and the ancient Olympics in Greece. Stuff about the Games. Like, why is there an Olympic torch? I know a lot about the Bird's Nest and Watercube (Beijing's brand-new National Stadium and National Aquatics Center)."

For example?

"Well, the Watercube is designed to look like it was built out of bubbles."

How have the Olympic Games changed your life? I asked him.

"Before we started preparing for 2008, I didn't care about sports very much. But now we learn about the Games in school and I watch Olympics cartoons on T.V.," he replied. "We're very proud that the Games will be held in Beijing. If China wins many gold medals, we'll applaud. Actually, I want to become a soccer player."

"You can't, fatty," the girls chimed in.

My friend and I also spoke with a husband and wife who grew up in Beijing.

"This is a popular park," the husband said. "People come here to exercise and to play. The Olympics have improved the peoples' awareness with regard to personal health. Our physical vigor has reached a new level."

And outside the park?

"The government's public education campaigns are great - the line-up and anti-smoking campaigns. They are improving the people. Native Beijingers are okay, but many people who come here from other places have bad habits. Now that we're hosting the Games, they are better."

"The Olympics have raised our standard of living here in Beijing," he continued. "We love the Games. Although Beijing is becoming an international city, the Games will allow us to introduce our local culture to the rest of the world."

We caught up with a 52 year old man moving gingerly down a dirt path. He turned out to be a retired city official.

"I walk every day," he remarked. "But I have a blood disease and my body is deteriorating fast. It's hard - all my kids are living abroad. They won't come back. They say they want to be 'free.'"

"These Olympics are primarily the business of the younger generation. But, if they asked for my help it would be my pleasure to serve."

"I'm happy when China wins gold. I always watch the Olympics. Of course, international friendships are more important than medals. The Games will showcase our food, our culture and our historic buildings. Old Beijing is getting a boost from these Olympics," he assured us.

"There will be air pollution during the Games - that's inevitable," a snack-vendor explained. "Beijing's government is doing everything it can - they'll pull cars off the road, etc. But there will be pollution. In that sense, the Games symbolize Chinese development."

My friend and I approached two elderly women. They sat on a bench, watching the water.

"We're just old wives," one of them told me. "But we do our part nonetheless. We come here to dance and sing Olympic songs. We're so happy for China - in fact, it's hard not to be happy these days. Before 1949 we were poor. We didn't have food, clothing or shelter. Now we'll host the Olympics, and it's all thanks to Chairman Mao. We admire him very much."

"You're an American," her friend said kindly. "China's old wives welcome you and your sportsmen."

If he were alive in 2008, I wondered aloud, what would Chairman Mao think of Beijing's Games?

"He would love them, of course! In 2001, when it was announced that China had won the right to host the Olympics, we all cried. Many people filled up Tian'anmen Square. President Hu and Prime Minister Wen gave wonderful speeches. They care about us - the common people. That's why we support them."

A retired pilot jogging around Yuyuantan agreed with the park's 'old wives.'

"If it weren't for the Games, our children would be abandoning Chinese traditions much faster," he said. "We're behind our leaders. Beijing will - without question - hold a successful Games."

Observations, suggestions, park experiences to share? See Blogging Beijing's comments feature below.

A tired, old boat rocks gently in the canal just west of Yuyuantan/Diaoyutai. Emperors once rowed past here on their way to Beijing's luxurious 'Summer Palace.'

Dancing might be the number one activity in Beijing parks. Sometimes people hop to live music - more often they spin records.

An elderly man and young boy examine a map of Yuyuantan. The park is huge - I've spent hours there and still haven't seen all of it.

From a bridge spanning the lake at Yuyuantan: a view of Beijing's CCTV (Chinese Central Television) Tower. The tower, located just west of Yuyuantan is 238 meters high (405 meters with antenna). It was built in 1992.

Most parks in Beijing contain free, outdoor weight machines and exercise equipment. I recognized some of the contraptions at Yuyuantan. In order to try out others, I had to use my imagination.

Beijing isn't known for its green spaces, making Yuyuantan's wooded hills all the more special.

Garbage piles up in between old houses just outside the park.

When the lake at Yuyuantan freezes over, there's skating and sliding galore.

It wasn't originally named "Angler's Terrace" for nothing - many Beijingers still ice-fish here. "We catch about one small fish - about this big - each day," one angler told me, holding his hands just a few inches apart. "This actually isn't the historical Daioyutai - that's to our east. Now it's a government guesthouse and we aren't allowed in. China's leaders fish there."

Beijing park goers enjoy jianzi ('featherball'), a Chinese folk game also known as 'shuttlecock.' Although jianzi involves kicking a stack of feathered coins instead of a ball, it's similar to hacky sack.

Not even a thick coating of ice stops Yuyuantan's 'polar bears' from hitting the water.

Before diving into the water and while drying off, these brave Beijingers let loose thunderous, good-natured yells. "OhOhOHHHHHHHH!"

Free time on a Sunday afternoon? Why not carve a swimming pool out of Yuyuantan's ice?

He may not be an Olympian, but this gymnast had picked up a following.

A park-goer treats herself to a post-workout massage.

An elderly Beijinger checks up on Yuyuantan's ongoing Olympic restoration.

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