400 elderly people nearly come to blows in Shanghai over dancing space

Hundreds of elderly people nearly came to blows over a dancing area in Shanghai last week, mainland media reports.

The two groups, with about 200 members each, both wanted to use a space at the city’s Songjiang Sports Centre, according to the Shanghai Morning Post.

Last Wednesday, one group arrived at 5pm to set up lighting and audio equipment then began to dance.

Thirty minutes later, the second group arrived, connected their own sound system and started to play music.

Neither side would back down, and each group raised the volume of their music, trying to drown out the other side.

“The whole process lasted for more than 10 minutes. Nobody spoke. The music was deafening,” a witness told the Post.