The uncles and aunties who trip the light fantastic
Foreign visitors to China are often astonished to find streets and neighbourhoods bustling with middle-aged “uncles and aunties” joyfully engaging in after-dinner square dancing.
The activity has led some to ask if people in China are naturalborn groovers.
Tripping the light fantastic has also gripped the Chinese diaspora. In Los Angeles, when Chinese residents begin square dancing, their vibrant singing and dancing quickly attracts local residents, with even first-time onlookers joining in. So what lies behind the phenomenon.
Square and park dancing, known as guang chang wu in Chinese, is the most popular national dance.
Popular among middle-aged and retired women, who are often referred to as dancing grannies, participants dress in matching outfits and gather in neighbourhood squares after dinner.
Its roots lie in the rapid urbanisation and building boom of the 1990s, and its cross-generational appeal is in its easy-to-learn steps.
The activity not only benefits health and expands a person’s social circle, it is also a pastime for those in early retirement.
Recently, it has also attracted the interest of young adults eager to relieve the stress of work.
Meanwhile, ke mu an, known as “Subject Three” in English, refers to a section of China’s driving test, and involves rocking the body and performing rapid wrist-twisting actions and swinging the knees and ankles.
The dance shot to prominence following a wedding in the Guangxi Zhuang region in 2021.
Participants performed the dance to enhance the wedding’s lively atmosphere, setting off a craze that spread across Guangxi and turning the dance into a local wedding custom.
In this region, it is said that life has three essential traits, singing folk songs, eating rice noodles and mastering the ke mu san dance.
Celebrated for its engaging moves and catchy music, waiters from Haidilao, a renowned hotpot restaurant chain in China, do the dance for customers, taking its popularity to another level.
Another dance, Bo Bo Chicken, emerged as the latest craze during the 2024 Lunar New Year.
Named after the spicy skewered snack from Sichuan province, the dance features head bobbing back and forth like a chicken, plus leg and hip twisting movements.
It is accompanied by the repeated shouts of street vendors from Sichuan province, “Bo Bo Chicken, Bo Bo Chicken, one yuan [HK$1.08] per skewer”.