Get Fit, Play Darts

During a recent employee health check, it was brought to our HR department’s attention that our staff falls on the unhealthy side of the Shanghai average. As a response to get our employees in shape, our HR department organized a month's worth of activities to promote fitness. It’s always interesting for me to see a Chinese interpretation of corporate initiatives such as this. In my mind, a great way to improve staff health would be to provide gym membership discounts, pass out nicorette patches to the countless staff that smoke constantly, or organize a company run. What actually happened was a series of competitions that included the following:

See how many times a shuttlecock can be bounced on a badminton racket for 2 minutes...

Darts (which was won by yours truly.....I guess all those bar games really do pay off)...

Bounce a huge, birdlike hacky-sack with your feet for two minutes...

Badminton (the only event that actually made me break a sweat...kind of)

And the ever popular workout, Tug of War...

As you may have noticed, with the exception of the badminton, all events took place in our building's underground garage. The venue was less than ideal, considering the constant exhaust smell and frequent car alarms being set off. Fortunately, people barely noticed, as it wasn't much different than the traffic and honking filled streets of Shanghai. While I have a feeling the month of activities won't cause a huge reduction in our company's health care premiums, it sure was a lot of fun. And thanks to my fluke-ish dart competition win, my Chinese colleagues not only point and stare at me with admiration when I walk through the halls, but I am also the prize winner of a brand new backpack to hold all my 'fitness' gear (darts, ping pong paddle, etc.).