Running through Beijing: How parks and paths shape everyday health

At 6 a.m., Beijing is at its most honest. Before traffic fills the ring roads and office towers light up, the city belongs to those who move through it steadily, on foot, jogging, or stretching in quiet ritual. In parks, along rivers and beneath tree-lined avenues, runners trace routes that reveal how urban space, health and daily life intersect.

Running through Beijing is not about escape. It is about participation. Each path tells a story about who the city is built for, and how well-being is increasingly understood as a shared, public good rather than a private pursuit.

One of the most striking places to see this is Olympic Forest Park, created for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and later repurposed as a public fitness space. Its wide, well-maintained loops draw runners of all ages, genders and abilities. Retirees walk briskly beside young professionals tracking their pace on smartwatches. Parents push strollers. Students run in clusters. The space feels open, visible and active.

The park reflects Beijing's broader urban planning strategy: integrating green corridors that improve air quality, reduce urban heat and encourage physical activity. Research shows that accessible green spaces are linked to higher levels of daily exercise, improved cardiovascular health and lower stress levels, according to the World Health Organization's urban health studies.

Further south, Temple of Heaven Park offers a different rhythm. Runners share space with tai chi practitioners and calligraphy groups tracing characters with water on the pavement. Movement here is layered onto history. Exercise is slower, more communal and deeply social, highlighting the role of public parks as both cultural and recreational spaces. Urban planners have long noted that mixed-use environments encourage inclusive, lifelong physical activity.

In central Beijing, Chaoyang Park plays a similar role. Surrounded by residential neighborhoods and business districts, its paths are busy from early morning to late evening. People run before, or after work, families walk after dinner, and informal running groups gather at familiar meeting points. The park functions as a daily fitness hub, woven seamlessly into the routines of city life.

Along the Liangma River, running becomes a lens on urban renewal. Once overlooked, the riverbanks now host runners, cyclists and walkers, especially in the evenings. Studies suggest that exercising near water can improve mood, reduce perceived exertion and support mental resilience, underscoring the science behind Beijing's investment in green-blue corridors.

What stands out across these routes is not speed, but diversity. Beijing's running spaces are intergenerational, inclusive and visibly mixed. Men and women run alone, in pairs, or in loose groups. Delivery riders stretch between shifts. Older runners move steadily, unconcerned with distance or pace. Informal running clubs, often organized through WeChat groups or fitness apps, provide low-barrier ways for residents to connect and stay active.

China's running culture has expanded rapidly over the past decade. According to the China Athletics Association, more than 100 million people participate in running regularly, and the number of marathons has grown from just a handful in 2000 to over 1,500 annually by 2024. Yet most runners remain recreational, reflecting a culture where running is tied to daily health, stress relief and social connection rather than competition.

This growth aligns with China's National Fitness Program, which encourages regular physical activity through accessible public infrastructure and community participation. The emphasis is not only on competition, but on integrating exercise into daily life.

In recent years, Beijing has continued expanding its network of urban greenways and pedestrian corridors, linking parks, rivers and residential neighborhoods. These connected systems reduce reliance on cars while making physical activity part of daily mobility. Rather than isolating exercise in designated facilities, the city increasingly integrates movement into its broader environmental and transport planning.

These scenes challenge the idea of running as an elite or youth-dominated activity. In Beijing, it has become a common language, bridging age, gender and occupation. Public health research consistently shows that urban design shapes behavior. When parks and paths are accessible, visible and well used, people move more.

At running speed, the city feels smaller and more human. Seasonal changes, overheard conversations and shifting rhythms between morning and evening come into focus. Parks are not just places to exercise. They are everyday infrastructure for health, social cohesion and environmental resilience.

In a time when health is often framed as an individual responsibility, Beijing's integrated park and river systems offer a different message. Sometimes, the clearest way to understand a city is simply to move through it, one step at a time, alongside others navigating life in motion.

Editor's Note: Denique Daniëls is a multimedia editor for CGTN Digital. This article is part of China in Motion, a recurring column that explores contemporary Chinese life through movement – from running and walking to the design of public space, health culture and community. By observing cities at a human pace, the series captures how ordinary routines shape the experience of life in China.