(Zhou says the weather is cold in the Northeast.)
Mao (laughing): Afraid of the cold? You two are only fifty-nine years old.
Those in their fifties are still young fellows.
(Zhou asks whether the Chairman still takes cold water baths.)
Mao: I am getting older, I can no longer do it now. However, I bathe in
a different way from others. Other people bathe in a bathtub and hot water.
I splash a bit of somewhat colder water on my body and then take a shower.
Mao adds: I get two results from taking a bath; one is cleansing and the

other is tempering.
Source: Excerpt from Zhang Zizhi’s article “A Few Things about Physical Exercise in Chairman Mao’s Life” in Tiyu Bao (Sports), Triweekly, Beijing (August 1,
1958).