Dressed in a neat blue blazer, grey slacks and a crisp white shirt with a red-striped tie, the man sweats as he moves back and forth on the stage, waving a small booklet in his hand. He's shouting English, working the crowd, pumping it up, part preacher, part motivational speaker, and part stand-up comedian. The crowd of hundreds shouts back on signal, at the same time waving their hands in the air.
This is no southern Christian revival. Li Yang, the man on stage, has become something of a legend in China for having a big mouth, and he is in Chaoyang Park to promote his trademark Crazy English, based on the belief that shouting helps you to concentrate and remember better.
The Xinjiang native jumps off the stage and walks among the audience, sticking his microphone into people's faces, challenging them to shout out English words. Occasionally he uses one of the hand signals he's developed to teach pronunciation. Back up on the stage again, he whips off his blazer and puts it on the floor as he continues to teach English as a shouted language. The audience is having a great time.
Recently, his unorthodox method was given an official stamp of approval when the Beijing Olympic committee hired him to teach staff and athletes English for the 2008 Olympics.
Mr Li's popularity is partially the product of what is known locally as Yingwen re, or English fever, a phenomenon that has seen English-language learning permeate all levels of society.
'It's nothing less than a revolution,' says Bruce Liu, director of Studio Classroom, a Taiwan company that teaches English on local television and radio.