Old at heart: China youth embrace square dancing hobby traditionally enjoyed by grandparents as ‘fashionable way for self-expression’
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Young adults in China are embracing a hobby generally favoured by their grandparents.
They have become fascinated by square dancing, known as guang chang wu in Chinese, which has long been a popular pursuit among the middle-aged and the retired as a fun exercise that benefits their health as well as expanding their social circles.
Youngsters are discovering its joys, which include diverse and often complex moves to a range of music genres such as jazz.
To add to the fun, sometimes the participants even don outfits from the legendary Chinese movie, Journey to the West.
A 22-year-old man, nicknamed Xiaobai, from Changchun, Jilin province in northeastern China has become so obsessed with square dancing that he has a social media account with videos of him on the dance floor.
The account has attracted more than 20,000 followers, and some fans have been known to drive for over an hour just to dance with him.