China Daily Global Edition (USA)
GETTING RICHER, GETTING FITTER
The number of customers hitting the nation’s gyms and fitness centers is growing as people try to gain the perfect body. reports for China Features at Xinhua.
Two years ago, Han Chunjing was an amateur chef, parading her attempts at China’s world-renowned cuisine on social media. Today, the 45-year-old is one of a growingnumber of fitness enthusiasts posting gym selfies to show off their impressive physiques.
Since September 2014, Han — founder of an NGO in the northern port city of Tianjin— has worked out for four to six hours a week, focusing on training programs including CrossFit and cardio sessions. She has lost 10 kg, firmed her abs and, more importantly for her, “regained a young woman’s shape and confidence”.
Han is one of the millions of Chinesewhohave taken up theWestern habit of boosting their six packs and well-honed muscles via anaerobic or aerobic exercises.
Photos of running tracks, steps andamazing handstands are sweeping social media platforms, such as the micro blog Weibo and the instant-messaging service WeChat. Now, registering for some marathons is harder than buying a train ticket during the Spring Festival exodus. Web users never tire of discussing body-fat percentages and diet plans, while celebrities’ posts of their gym pictures never fail to attract hits and fans.
Han says her passion came from a personal awakening — “Keeping fit means a better life” — and fitness classes, books and sportswear have cost her more than 30,000 yuan ($4,355) over two years. “It’s not a small amount, but it’s better than spending it on hospital bills, isn’t it?” she said.
In the 1980s, when Han was young, most people had no awareness of physical fitness, preferring instead to believe the traditional saying: “Health depends on food rather than feet.” In sickness and in wealth
According to Lin Xianpeng, vicedirector of theManagement College of Beijing Sport University, the fitness trend is a result of fears about worsening health. “Almost half of the Chinese population is subhealthy. About 150 million people have chronic ailments, and cases of both diabetes and cardio-cerebral vascular disease have reached 190 million,” he said.
Furthermore, insomnia and obesity rates exceed those in developed countries, and they continue to rise among younger people. “We need to be clear that, although China is getting rich, its people’s health should not be poor,” Lin said. “China should avoid being the sick man of Asia.”
Liu Qing, deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Association of Sport Industry, said public awareness of fitness begins when a nation’s annual per capita GDP hits $5,000. If it surpasses $8,000, the fitness industry becomes a pillar of the national economy.
China’s per capita GDP exceeded $5,000 in 2011, and reached $8,016 last year, accordingtoofficialdata.
In 1995, the government issued the Outline of theNationwide Physical Fitness Program, pledging that sports and health-building services would be aligned with national economic development.
In 2014, the government updated the fitness program into a national strategy. In June, it released the National Fitness Program for 20162020, predicting that 435 million people will regularly play sports by 2020, and total sports-related consumption will reach 1.5 trillion yuan.
Sports will become the new engine to boost domestic spending in a slowing economy, said Liu Peng, minister at the General Administration of Sport. Online exercise
The fitness fad coincides with the growth of the mobile internet and a boom in entrepreneurship. Xiong Mingjun started a yoga app in September enjoy communicating with young people— it makes me feel energetic and happy,” she said.
The rapidly rising senior population is also providing a huge market for the anti-aging industry. Yang Yansui, a professor at Tsinghua University and an expert on social security, used the term “silver economy” to refer to the potential opportunities offered by China’s aging population. According to a recent survey of seniors’ living conditions in urban and rural areas, the per capita consumption of senior citizens has reached 14,764 yuan ($2,149) a year, resulting in total consumption reaching 3 trillion yuan annually, and older people are now spending more on cultural and leisure activities.
Bai spends 10,000 yuan on her fitness every year, and she considers it to be money well spent: “If you want a personal trainer, you pay 600 yuan for each session. That’s three times the price of a group lesson, but the trainer instructs you one-to-one, points out your problems, helps you correct them and makes your training more efficient and effective.”
Feng also spends a considerable last year, despite never having practiced himself. “Iknowit is in great demand,” he said.
Xiong’s confidence grew with the news that Premier Li Keqiang and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi attended a cultural activity featuring tai chi and yoga in Beijing last year. He has devised a slogan — “Yoga changes lives”— to reflect his belief that yoga’s physical and mental practices can satisfy the needs of middle-class people who want to forget about work, relax and slow down.
Since itwaslaunched, Xiong’s app has gained 2 million followers, mainly from Beijing and Shanghai, who can try yoga anytime, anywhere through free videos on their smartphones.
In the past two years, an estimated
amount of money on marathons every year, including entry fees and equipment costs. “You have to pay much more to enter a marathon abroad. If you don’t qualify for free entry through your marathon times, the charity entry fee alone will cost you more than 10,000 yuan,” he said, referring to the practice whereby those who complete marathons in China in a specified time gain cheaper entry to races overseas.
Although Feng wants to run a marathon abroad, he realizes that his speed will have to improve before that can happen.
The work of Liu Zhengzuo, general manager of Taizhou Vitality Fitness Equipment Marketing Co in 1,700 sports and fitness apps have come online in China, most of them startups aimed at beginners.
Yuan Quan
Cautious approach
Lin Shuo, 28, from Shantou, Guangdong Province, has become famous online by riding the fitness wave. The professional athleteturnedguru started blogging onWeibo andWeChat in 2014, sharing his expertiseandgymexperience.
“I never expected that my blogs would become an instant success,” said Lin, who has 640,000 followers and resigned his post at a private company to launch a WeChat account called Body Philosophy. “Articles about how to chisel away body fat through exercise always receive thousands of hits.”
However, some experts are urging caution when following online workouts. “Videos and photos can show you how to move, but they cannot tell how to breathe or how strenuous your exercise should be,” said Shao Xiaofeng, a senior fitness instructor at a gym in Beijing. “Everybody is different, so fitness needs face-to-face instruction.”
According to Shao, exercise can be a social activity for white-collar workers who live alone in big cities. “Some people find romantic or business partners. They can’t do that looking at their mobile phone at home.”
Three years ago, he led 24 gym classes a month, but now the number is 50. His income has doubled, but he has to compete against cheaper, unqualified services.
To remain competitive, Shao attends fitness conferences, strives for higher accreditation, and studies medicine, nutrition anatomy and psychology. He considered settingup his own gym in Beijing, but was dissuaded by the high rents: “Gyms in big cities are usually set up underground because of the low rents.”
Most Chinese gyms offer longterm membership, usually for six months or a year, but the fees can run to thousands of yuan — far beyond the means of many people.
However, Shao remains optimistic. “It is a budding industry. The competition will become more professional, and consumers more sensible,” he said.
After all, as a popularChinese saying has it: “Breaking a sweat deserves a feast.”
Tianjin.
Zhejiang province, revolves around the fitness of senior citizens. “Ten percent of our company’s fitness equipment is designed for elderly people. In recent years sales have risen noticeably,” he said.
Liu has longdreamedabout opening a gym solely for seniors, but the high cost and other factors mean it has yet to become a reality: “At present, there are not many facilities for senior citizens, but I can see great market potential. Anyway, the physical condition of senior citizens is different from that of the young. The key to seniors’ fitness is to do it step by step and achieve progress gradually,” he said. Chai Pingyan contributed to this story