Introduction

Pamela Hiley; through her dedication to the practice of Taijiquan and Qigong over 30 years, has established many contacts within the Taijiquan and Qigong community in China. Therefore, she felt it auspicious to celebrate her 25 year practice in Norway with a journey to the roots of her inspiration. For this, Pamela personally made a special visit to Beijing to meet with the Directors of the Beijing Taiji Association, the Head of the Beijing Peoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the leading Taiji Masters in Beijing to assure that the visit by the Centre to China would be a valuable experience for both the students of NTS and the Chinese practitioners we would meet.

The planning process was also aided by the Chinese Embassy in Oslo, which has close contact with the Norsk Taiji Senter. The Embassy connected NTS with Mr. Wang Xinchao of The Beijing People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries. He helped arrange the tour with Mr. Wang Xianguang (Harry) from Peace Travel in Beijing. 'Harry' was also our valuable guide and interpreter during the two weeks.

With the combined efforts of these people and the organizing committee at the Norsk Taiji Senter, the group was provided with a unique program. Covering long distances, each stop provided a marvellous opportunity for the participants to enhance their knowledge and self development as practitioners of the art of Taijiquan. We were fortunate to meet some of the best representatives from the different styles of Martial Arts, and we were humbled by their willingness to demonstrate and share their art and knowledge with us.

Please enjoy the enclosed video as an introduction and a taste of some of the experiences from our trip to China.