XIONG’AN: On a bright autumn day in September, in a room on the second floor of a service center for the elderly in Xiong’an New Area, north China’s Hebei Province, sat more than a dozen seniors, loudly reciting a poem titled “China has a city named Xiong’an.”
The poem, authored by Chinese poet and calligrapher Lin Shuangchuan, begins by describing the changing scenery of Xiong’an through the four seasons of the year.
In loose translation, it depicts the spring when patches of green reeds grow and decorate the lakes, the summer when lotus flowers bloom in the sun and fishermen sing in the evenings, the autumn when fruits ripen and the earth becomes golden, and the winter when silvery snow dominates the landscape in this northern land.
The elderly people, mostly in their 60s and 70s, chanted the verses about Xiong’an, which brands itself as a city built by and for the people.
Hou Dongqi, 71, led the recitation at the Nanwen Community Elders Service Center, a hive of activity where seniors living nearby can easily meet up and pursue a range of interests, including physical exercise, ping-pong, 8-ball games, poker, mahjong, paper-cutting, calligraphy and singing.
As an active member of the center, Hou has a group of avid followers of poem recitation, a routine activity held here from 9:30 to 10:30 every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. –Agencies
