A lot has changed since the days when Tai-chi, Yangge (Northeastern Chinese fan dancing) and granny disco were the main forms of exercise available to urban Chinese. Beijing, Shanghai and other big cities have seen the arrival of international gym chains, yoga studios, salsa dancing classes, Pilates and just about every other exercise fad you could name.
But The China Daily has found a new Beijing fitness activity that is not usually associated with keeping fit in the west: pole dancing.
Yes, the dance form invented by American strip club owners is being offered as a way of keeping fit by one Ms Luo Lan, who The China Daily says “is trying to make exercise fun — and not morally corrupt anyone”. Luo’s students back her up on this point:
Another student, Yuan Xi, dismissed concerns that pole dancing is just for bar girls or strippers, adding that her love of the pole had nothing to do with sex.
“China is a very conservative country, and many people cannot accept this,” said the 22-year-old. “Some men seem to think it’s only about sex, but it’s not. It’s about dancing.”
To illustrate the healthy nature of pole dancing, The China Daily article is accompanied by a gallery of 8 photographs. The article is here: Girls cautiously pole dance their way to fitness.
UPDATE: As a commenter points out, the story was actually from Reuters, apparently by Ben Blanchard, and that the article was on the website and did not appear in the newspaper.