Acrobatics

China Acrobatic Circus:
Tumblers Bare Chinese Soul

Acrobatics demands vigor, discipline, commitment and determination to reach further heights. When performed by highly trained and dedicated artists such as those of the China Acrobatic Circus, it is an inspiring spectacle. As early as 3,000 years ago, primitive man created this art based on his daily activities of hunting, fighting and worship. Ancient paintings, murals and sculptures attest to the popularity of acrobatic displays.

Tangenyuan Restaurant

Beijing flavor isn't confined to the food at the vibrant Tangenyuan restaurant, near the east gate of Ditan Park. From the rickshaw boys waiting to ferry you the final 50 yards to the Peking Opera skits on stage, an evening at Tangenyuan captures enough old capital culture to keep visitors coming back again and again.


Beijing Acrobatics School

The Russian students at the Beijing Acrobatics School are not your average here-today, gone-tomorrow international schoolchildren. They are not the offspring of wealthy expats, they do not live in 5,000-dollar-a-month apartments, and they do not benefit from the latest Montessori Method.

Aged between 7 and 15, these children have left their parents far behind to live in a dormitory for seven years while they learn to be acrobats in Beijing.

Fifteen-year-old Styopa Anisimov thinks the world of the Chinese capital. He reckons it's not just big, not just beautiful, but also ... hot. All the children are from the Siberian city of Yakutsk, which happens to be the coldest city in Russia. It's an especially bleak place these days.