Dancing in the park: China's national hobby
Every morning, every evening, in every city, dance groups are more than ready to strut their stuff
By Gillian BolsoverBallroom dancing at Xiangyang Park
Mr. Shu (舒先生, left), 50, has been dancing for 10 years. He met his partner Sun Xiaoman (孙小曼) seven months ago. "We don't know each other's first names," Sun says, "but we know each other well so we dance well together."
Stand and watch and people will ask you to dance, she adds.
Waltz, cha-cha-cha, Yangko, or even self-invented twists and turns -- moves don't matter.
Throughout China, at dawn and again around dusk, dance devotees hit public parks to stretch their limbs, make new friends and exchange gossip.
We fox-trotted with some of them in Shanghai.
The best locations to observe the public dancing culture in China include:
1. Shanghai Fuxing Park (上海复兴公园), 516 Fuxing Zhong Lu, near Huaihai Zhong Lu 复兴中路516号, 近淮海中路
2. Shanghai Xiangyang Park (上海襄阳公园), 1008 Huaihai Zhong Lu, near Xiangyang Bei Lu 淮海中路1008号, 近襄阳北路
3. Shanghai Liyuan Park (上海丽园公园), Liyuan Lu, near Jumen Lu 丽园路, 近局门路
4. Beijing Houhai area (北京后海), entrance through the Lotus Market, No. 51, Xi Da Jie, Di'an Men, Xicheng District 西城区地安门西大街51号
5. Shenzhen Lihuashan Park (深圳莲花山公园), Hongli Lu, Futian District 福田区红荔路
After working as a full-time photographer and multimedia producer for small-town American newspapers for several years, Gillian followed her camera across the globe in pursuit of new experiences and adventures.
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