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Taking the steps instead of the easy escalator
By Wang Yong |
August 10, 2010, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THANKS to all those people who choose the escalator, I usually have the staircase pretty much to myself, whether in stores, offices or subways.
Yesterday morning was no exception. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of Metro commuters at Shaanxi Rd S. station filed onto one narrow escalator, which was so crowded that many had to wait in crowded lines.
No one took the cement steps, which are at least four times wider than the only escalator. So I conquered them in easy strides in less than one minute. I climb these steps every time I take the subway to work. Otherwise, I walk 50 minutes to the office, even under a scorching sun.
Those escalator lovers were not all burdened by big or heavy packages, many were young men and women in their 20s who carried nothing but themselves or, for that matter, a huge but largely empty LV bag (or a fake). And yet they would not exert themselves to use their feet.
Many of these escalator-addicted commuters then arrive in air-conditioned offices and sit before computers all day long. They complain about headaches, listlessness and other forms of sub-health - as evidenced in the growing number of cases of AC-related illness reported in Shanghai and many other cities this summer - but few would exercise their leg power that, in Chinese traditional medical theory, holds the key to health.
Health hazards
I'm not sure whether these men and women go to yoga or fitness clubs after work, but even if they do (and most of them don't), climbing a few steps in the open air would only make them healthier.
Recognizing the health hazards of a sedentary life (where one often "moves" only on an escalator, in an elevator or in a car), Beijing yesterday restored - and mandated - exercise at work in many government institutions and state-owned companies.
My hat's off to Beijing decision-makers who now require employees to take physical exercise out in the open for around 20 minutes during work every day. Beijing used to require this kind of exercise in 1951, in schools, offices, and stores, but suspended it in 2007 for no known good reasons.
In fact, at-work exercise disappeared in many organizations in Beijing and many other cities long before 2007 as workers' benefits declined in a skewed market economy that put profits before health.
The gradual disappearance of at-work exercise also coincided with the sudden emergence of a mechanized way of life - wheels were nobler than feet and escalators were nobler than steps - in this great age of ours that glorifies everything powered by machines and denigrates everything natural.
One of my friends drove to Hangzhou the other day and came back saying the city was not as bucolic as I had described to him. I wasn't a bit surprised by his observation. He hardly went into the deep of bamboo forests or leafy hills as he never got out of his car except for dining.
Beijing's decision to restore at-work exercise is not just about rediscovering worker benefits - after all, it could give workers the same 20 minutes for playing video games - it's about reshaping a culture that liberates men and women from addiction to machines of all kinds, including cars, escalators, computers and air-conditioners.
Flexing muscles
By next year, Beijing says, 100 percent of the employees at state-owned companies and 70 percent of the employees in government administrative bodies must do exercise at work every day. It's compulsory. And on average, 60 percent of all employees in Beijing will have to exercise from next year on.
The devil is, of course, in the details. It's impossible to monitor every company and institution. And it could be that many of those overweight, sedentary, middle-aged smokers will just ignore the new regulation, or take a smoke break. Still, Beijing has set a good example by saying no to a mechanized way of work and life.
Mandatory measures are sometimes necessary as ordinary people left to their own devices would probably choose a life of convenience and inactivity. For this reason, Beijing and other cities should consider reducing the number of escalators and cars so that people have to flex their leg muscles in most situations.
People can walk, must walk and will come to enjoy walking if walking is made only choice in many situations. Most ridiculous is an escalator at the No. 2 exit of the Jing'an Temple station of Metro Line 2 in Shanghai. The escalator runs by a pedestrian passage that's only about 10 steps high.
Couldn't those young Shanghai ladies and gentlement walk 10 steps up? Yes, they could. But Shanghai Metro managers have deflected able-bodied men and women from a healthy way of life, let alone a low-carbon one, despite the city's rhetoric to go greener.
The only "beneficiaries" of a mechanized life are people like me, who don't have to battle the crowds when we take the stairs.
Yesterday morning was no exception. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of Metro commuters at Shaanxi Rd S. station filed onto one narrow escalator, which was so crowded that many had to wait in crowded lines.
No one took the cement steps, which are at least four times wider than the only escalator. So I conquered them in easy strides in less than one minute. I climb these steps every time I take the subway to work. Otherwise, I walk 50 minutes to the office, even under a scorching sun.
Those escalator lovers were not all burdened by big or heavy packages, many were young men and women in their 20s who carried nothing but themselves or, for that matter, a huge but largely empty LV bag (or a fake). And yet they would not exert themselves to use their feet.
Many of these escalator-addicted commuters then arrive in air-conditioned offices and sit before computers all day long. They complain about headaches, listlessness and other forms of sub-health - as evidenced in the growing number of cases of AC-related illness reported in Shanghai and many other cities this summer - but few would exercise their leg power that, in Chinese traditional medical theory, holds the key to health.
Health hazards
I'm not sure whether these men and women go to yoga or fitness clubs after work, but even if they do (and most of them don't), climbing a few steps in the open air would only make them healthier.
Recognizing the health hazards of a sedentary life (where one often "moves" only on an escalator, in an elevator or in a car), Beijing yesterday restored - and mandated - exercise at work in many government institutions and state-owned companies.
My hat's off to Beijing decision-makers who now require employees to take physical exercise out in the open for around 20 minutes during work every day. Beijing used to require this kind of exercise in 1951, in schools, offices, and stores, but suspended it in 2007 for no known good reasons.
In fact, at-work exercise disappeared in many organizations in Beijing and many other cities long before 2007 as workers' benefits declined in a skewed market economy that put profits before health.
The gradual disappearance of at-work exercise also coincided with the sudden emergence of a mechanized way of life - wheels were nobler than feet and escalators were nobler than steps - in this great age of ours that glorifies everything powered by machines and denigrates everything natural.
One of my friends drove to Hangzhou the other day and came back saying the city was not as bucolic as I had described to him. I wasn't a bit surprised by his observation. He hardly went into the deep of bamboo forests or leafy hills as he never got out of his car except for dining.
Beijing's decision to restore at-work exercise is not just about rediscovering worker benefits - after all, it could give workers the same 20 minutes for playing video games - it's about reshaping a culture that liberates men and women from addiction to machines of all kinds, including cars, escalators, computers and air-conditioners.
Flexing muscles
By next year, Beijing says, 100 percent of the employees at state-owned companies and 70 percent of the employees in government administrative bodies must do exercise at work every day. It's compulsory. And on average, 60 percent of all employees in Beijing will have to exercise from next year on.
The devil is, of course, in the details. It's impossible to monitor every company and institution. And it could be that many of those overweight, sedentary, middle-aged smokers will just ignore the new regulation, or take a smoke break. Still, Beijing has set a good example by saying no to a mechanized way of work and life.
Mandatory measures are sometimes necessary as ordinary people left to their own devices would probably choose a life of convenience and inactivity. For this reason, Beijing and other cities should consider reducing the number of escalators and cars so that people have to flex their leg muscles in most situations.
People can walk, must walk and will come to enjoy walking if walking is made only choice in many situations. Most ridiculous is an escalator at the No. 2 exit of the Jing'an Temple station of Metro Line 2 in Shanghai. The escalator runs by a pedestrian passage that's only about 10 steps high.
Couldn't those young Shanghai ladies and gentlement walk 10 steps up? Yes, they could. But Shanghai Metro managers have deflected able-bodied men and women from a healthy way of life, let alone a low-carbon one, despite the city's rhetoric to go greener.
The only "beneficiaries" of a mechanized life are people like me, who don't have to battle the crowds when we take the stairs.
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