City of dance

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Visitors to Shanghai are often amazed by the local's love for dance.

A loudspeaker will appear, seemingly from nowhere' and start to play loud music and suddenly, the nearest street corner, public square or park immediately turns into an open dance hall.

In the morning and evening, on the Bund, on pedestrian shopping streets and almost all public squares in the city or suburbs, people will be dancing.

Zhu Yongqing is one of the people behind the loudspeakers. Every evening, he sets up the sound box — quite a large one at 70 centimeters tall — at the front of the park on Sichuan Road North.

A crowd starts to form as the music plays. Soon, a dance party has formed, illuminated by the flickering lights from the giant advertisement screen across the street. Most of the dancers are in their 50s or 60s. Some are older, with grey hair and slower steps. For them, waltzing in the park is like a walk after dinner. "I live nearby. Dance is my way to exercise," says one man, after a failed attempt at getting this reporter to dance.

Occasionally, children on rollerskates break into the circle of a few dozen couples waltzing. Dancers drop a one-yuan coin into a tray beside the sound box, "to pay for the electricity," the man explained.

"Experienced dance teacher, 9-11 am daily at Zhabei Park, 7-10 pm at Chuanbei Park", Zhu's business card reads. The card has a picture of a Caucasian couple dancing against a pinkish purple background and lists Zhu's expertise: "waltz, rumba, cha-cha, samba, cow-boy…" He has been hosting the outdoor dance party at the park for more than eight years.

Across the street Zhu has a competitor. The woman surnamed Huang has been teaching Latin dance on the street for more than seven years. She gives classes through a microphone, to about 60 people, most of whom are middle-aged or retirees. The 100 yuan tuition will give you unlimited access till December to her outdoor dance classroom every evening for two and half hours.

"Not everyone lives nearby," Huang Laoshi - that's how she wants to be addressed — says. "People passing by sometimes are attracted and come back to join us."