Llama and Lamb

I heard of China’s Latest Fitness Fad on All Things Considered, the other night while driving home.

In China, newly affluent citizens are spending more time and money in search of a higher quality of life. They are quick to catch on to the latest foreign fitness fads, from yoga to bungee jumping and ballroom dancing to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

And the women at this school are all practitioners of the latest fitness fad to sweep China: pole dancing. Here, the activity seems to have escaped connotations of strippers and girlie bars, and is seen as just another way to keep fit–exotic, perhaps, but not erotic.

“People used to be very conservative in their dress and makeup. Now young women are very open–not in an unhealthy way, I mean,” Luo says. “They’re more confident and individualistic. They want to show their stuff.”

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