We were downstairs in the hotel lobby at 6 a.m. to walk to a nearby park and ended up practicing in a beautiful botanical garden, surrounded by lush trees and exotic birds, as well as a number of other Tai Chi and Qi Gong practitioners. We all did the 100-step form together, and then worked on our Hsing-I and individual demonstration forms.

On the way back, we stopped by another pebble foot massage spot filled with upturned smooth stones in concrete and gained additional information about the bottoms of our feet. These stones didn’t stick up as far as the ones in Taipei which was fine with several of us.

We walked back to the Evergreen hotel and enjoyed the decadent and thorough breakfast buffet together. There were eggs, bacon, fruit, yogurt, fruit juices, rolls, bagels, donuts. croissants, salads, ham, sausage, vegetables, coffee, cappuccino, mushrooms, seafood and more – maybe you could call it a multi-continental breakfast.

We had several hours of free time to rest or go exploring. Josh, Jennifer and Paul found a cat-themed shaved ice place which words probably fail but there are pictures below.

Some of us met at 4pm on a racquetball court to go over our Tai Chi form. The Tai Chi demonstration has been split up into four different sections, and no one will actually know the section of the form they will be presenting until tomorrow. Each group will pick a number out of a hat, so we have practiced and prepared the entire form.

At 6:30 there was a big welcome dinner with many of the other participants. We met up with our kung fu brothers and sisters from all over the world including Texas, Northern Virginia, California, Italy, Australia, Japan, and Taiwan. It was a fantastic vegetarian meal with course after course of tasty dishes.

Rather than painting the town all night, we all decided to head to bed. Another great day of both the familiar as well as the brand new.