A woman goes through her exercise regimen in Victoria Park, held in her jacket’s tight embrace. (CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY)
Maintaining physical fitness has always been high on the agenda of most Hong Kong people. Although some of the recent COVID-19 cases in the city have been linked to gyms, most people are not ready to give up their daily exercise regimens just yet.
The abundance of free-to-use exercise facilities in the city’s parks and sitting-out areas — many of which cater to the elderly — ensures that fitness-conscious Hong Kong is not deprived of a chance to stretch its limbs and fill its lungs with fresh air, even when the gyms are closed. Undeterred by the scare of catching the novel coronavirus, or passing it on, Hong Kong residents continue to use these facilities as a matter of habit.
An elderly woman does freehand exercises in a park in Tseung Kwan O. (CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY)
Stepping out to exercise poses a particularly tricky conundrum. While exercise enhances blood circulation and helps sweat out the toxicity inside, thereby reducing the risk of virus infection, exercising in crowded public, and private facilities makes one particularly vulnerable to catching a bug.
But then, Hong Kong residents have been here before. Most of them wear masks, practice hand hygiene rather rigorously, and are careful not to put themselves and the person next to them at risk in the pursuit of fitness.
A skating rink in a park in Tseung Kwan O has a solitary visitor. (CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY)
Exercising in a Tai Po gym. (EDMOND TANG / CHINA DAILY)
Having a go at the parallel bars at a park in Tseung Kwan O. (CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY)
Women practice aerial yoga in a Cheung Sha Wan studio. (EDMOND TANG / CHINA DAILY)
A man practices tai chi in Victoria Park during his lunch break. (CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY)
A boy tries his hand at a horizontal bar in a park. (CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY)
