In public parks across Beijing, small gatherings form every day without announcement or spectacle. Men arrive quietly, take their places on worn benches, and begin a ritual shaped by habit rather than chance. Cards are dealt, hands move with practiced ease, and silence carries more meaning than words.

This project is not about gambling in its literal sense. It is about routine, companionship, and the human need for structure within uncertainty. The game becomes a reason to gather, to sit side by side, to measure time through repetition rather than clocks.

Through black and white, the city recedes into the background. What remains are gestures, expressions, and moments of quiet intensity. Faces marked by years of lived experience. Hands that reveal tension, hope, patience, and acceptance.

These photographs document a fragile balance between risk and comfort, solitude and community. A reminder that even the smallest rituals can hold profound meaning when they are shared, repeated, and lived fully.