	Shichahai is a favorite spot where people relax and entertain themselves after a day’s hard work. Kids returning home from school, the adults from work, and the retired senior citizens also enjoy themselves at the lakeside.

Besides walking along the lake, people are found doing the taichi shadow boxing, playing the hu qin (a two-stringed musical instrument), dancing, jogging, playing table tennis, kicking shuttlecock and exercising on a variety of sport equipment. From dawn to dusk, those dynamic and happy people reveal the vigor of life.

Chess playing in the open air is one of the interesting sites in Shichahai, where both the players and onlookers find pleasure. An old Chinese saying has it that: “Dark horse always hides in the crowd”. The masters, who even outshine the national champions, are probably among those chess enthusiasts.

Deep winter is the best season for skating. Skaters dance on the ice, driving away the solemn atmosphere brought by winter. This natural skating rink free of charge has left numerous Beijingers with sweet memories.

At dusk in summer, people get together on various grounds along the lake to dance. With soft music floating in the air, they dance gracefully.

After hundreds of years, those high officials and notables were long gone. Now it is the ordinary people living in the Hutongs who dominate the atmosphere in Shichahai. Shichahai is indispensable in their life and vice versa.