Getting Lost in the lanes around Beijing's Back Lakes: No other city in the world has anything quite like the hutong, narrow lanes once "as numberless as the hairs on an ox." Now rapidly vanishing, the best-preserved hutong are found around a pair of man-made lakes in the city center. This area is almost the last repository of Old Beijing's gritty, lowrise charm, dotted with tiny temples, hole-in-the-wall noodle shops, and quiet courtyard houses whose older residents still wear Mao suits.
SOME people walk gracefully while others slump. You know something is wrong.When you see a frumpy figure gazing back at you in the mirror. Good posture can change all that. A woman striding confidently into a room with her shoulders straight and head held high has the ability to break hearts. A man standing straight-backed, with just the right tilt to his square chin, will stand out from the rest of the slumped party-goers. Good posture is easy to attain. The steps to proper posture are simple, and they begin with the stomach. The belly button should be pulled back into the spine, sucked up into the lungs. The ribs, in turn, should be held lightly under a buoyant chest and shoulders that are back and relaxed. The collarbones should be down, while the chin is slightly lifted, creating long, swan-like neck. The feeling is of being pulled upward from a string attached to the top of your head, with the entire spine stretched and extended. And on top of this b...
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