Need to give square dancing a human face
Updated: 2015-09-14 07:49
By Wang Yiqing(China Daily)
|
|||||||||
Women holding toy guns dance to a revolutionary song during their exercise at a square outside a shopping mall in Beijing, June 29, 2014.[Photo/CFP] |
Chinese people's attitude toward public square dancing is quite complicated. Senior citizens, especially aged women, find a new lease of life by being part of modern dancing groups, while many young and middle-aged people don't support their dancing in neighborhoods because of the din it creates.
No wonder, the public has responded differently to the recent news of four government departments, including the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, jointly issuing a statement encouraging dancing in public areas. Some people have even said that the Dama (literally, big mamas) have finally got government endorsement to practice group dancing in public areas, while others are worried that the joint statement could cause more frictions over the use of limited urban public spaces.
Controversies over public square dancing, in fact, reflect a generation gap and conflict of individual interests. For many senior citizens who grew up in the times of collectivism and enjoy public square dancing, the activity helps them to not only maintain an active life, but also recall their "good old days" when they were young and played and worked together. The members of the younger generations, many of whom are overtly stressed, can hardly understand the joys that orderly public square dancing brings to the elderly.
Moreover, modernization, urbanization and public sphere, and individual rights consciousness are new concepts in Chinese society that are less than a century old. Frictions and disputes in daily social interactions are understandable, because Chinese people need time to get used to new rules of life and the boundary between private and public life, as well as their rights and obligations in modern society.
To properly deal with this issue, the government has to make special efforts in two areas; it has to effectively coordinate between conflicting social groups, and provide sufficient public facilities and services to do so.
- Global health entering new era: WHO chief
- Brazil's planning minister steps aside after recordings revelation
- Vietnam, US adopt joint statement on advancing comprehensive partnership
- European border closures 'inhumane': UN refugee agency
- Japan's foreign minister calls A-bombings extremely regrettable
- Fukushima impact unprecedented for oceans: US expert
- Stars of Lijiang River: Elderly brothers with white beards
- Wealthy Chinese children paying money to learn British manners
- Military-style wedding: Fighter jets, grooms in dashing uniforms
- Striking photos around the world: May 16 - May 22
- Robots help elderly in nursing home in east China
- Hanging in the air: Chongqing holds rescue drill
- 2.1-ton tofu finishes in two hours in central China
- Six things you may not know about Grain Buds
Most Viewed
Editor's Picks
Anti-graft campaign targets poverty relief |
Cherry blossom signal arrival of spring |
In pictures: Destroying fake and shoddy products |
China's southernmost city to plant 500,000 trees |
Cavers make rare finds in Guangxi expedition |
Cutting hair for Longtaitou Festival |
Today's Top News
Liang avoids jail in shooting death
China's finance minister addresses ratings downgrade
Duke alumni visit Chinese Embassy
Marriott unlikely to top Anbang offer for Starwood: Observers
Chinese biopharma debuts on Nasdaq
What ends Jeb Bush's White House hopes
Investigation for Nicolas's campaign
Will US-ASEAN meeting be good for region?
US Weekly
Geared to go |
The place to be |