Qigong

Qigong at 6 a.m. in a park in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, May 2015 Under a canopy of broad old trees, people spread out across a dirt clearing to practice qigong, with bicycles parked at the edge of the session. Qigong pairs slow, repeated movements with deliberate breathing, and it asks even less of the body than tai chi: many routines can be done standing in one spot. That makes it a good first step for anyone returning to exercise after a long break, and the shade here shows why dawn is the time to do it in a subtropical city.