Serving up an ace cultural experience
Stars immerse themselves in Beijing's traditional, and trendy, activities
He then moved on to a lakeside pavilion where he practiced baduanjin, a slow, graceful traditional Chinese fitness routine similar to tai chi, with which Djokovic was so enchanted that his 20-minute session had to be extended into an hour-and-a-half, according to China Open's co-tournament director Lars Graff.
Toward the end of his tour, Djokovic stopped by at another pavilion perched on the hillside, where a plaque reading yichi yunzai, or "thoughts slow, clouds remain" in English, captured his attention.
The inscription, derived from a line by renowned Tang poet Du Fu, encourages a mindset of letting go of haste and hostility, while finding inner calm amid nature's quiet rhythm, something which Djokovic appeared to understand well.
"I always play the long game. I always tried to have a long career, rather than doing everything quickly within a few years. So this kind of philosophy resonates with me," Djokovic said in a video documenting his Summer Palace trip posted on Chinese lifestyle and social media platform Xiaohongshu, or RedNote.
"China has so much to offer in terms of heritage, culture and history," Djokovic said during his post-match interview after beating Portugal's Nuno Borges in the first round on Wednesday.
