100m elderly Chinese take to square dancing

– Chinese-style square dancing is running circles around other hobbies for the elderly, with millions taking to parks and plazas across China, swivelling their hips and rolling their arms – but it’s not to everyone’s liking.

Every evening, hundreds of grannies gather on a large square in west Beijing to dance with their instructor, who puts them through the motions of side steps and rotations to help them keep fit

Beijing

and, in the bitter winters, to keep warm.

“There are several benefits,” said Yan Fuzhi, 71, who has been dancing on the square for five years. “It helps me lose weight. Secondly, it’s good for my health and it gets rid of bad habits ... “I used to sit watching TV, which is bad for my heart and causes high blood pressure. But I’m really happy when I dance.”

But many residents complain they can’t get to sleep at night because of the racket. “There are definitely objections against square dancing. Some people don’t like dancing and see it as a disturbance,” said 78-year-old Zhang Lianmeng. “I think our country should encourage it as long as they can make appropriate arrangements.”

Instructor Fan Tiemin, 55, said his group was the biggest in Beijing, with about 500 dancers each evening – sometimes more than a thousand. Xinhua news agency said more than 100 million were involved nationwide.

Du Peng, a professor at Renmin University and director of the Institute of Gerontology, said China had made great strides in looking after the elderly, with improved pensions and insurance schemes.

“But a third area is the spiritual and cultural life. Square dancing is a part of it.” – Reuters