Construction worker changed life by pole dancing

Sun Jian, right, poses after winning the Pole Art France 2017 competition in Paris. [Photo by China's national pole dancing team/Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

It's hard to imagine how a migrant worker can change his life by pole dancing, but 22-year-old Sun Jian did it.

Sun won the Pole Art France 2017 competition in Paris on Sep 24. It is the first time that a Chinese dancer has won the championship.

His story began six years ago when he left his hometown of Yibin in Sichuan province to seek a job in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong province.

He was exhausted after working at the construction site and watched videos on the Internet to relax. One evening, he was inspired by a pole dancing performance.

"I constructed a pole with scaffolding from the building site and installed it in my dormitory. Initially, I often got injured because online videos were my only teacher," said Sun.

But he did not give up and even participated in public performances. A gym boss invited him to teach pole dancing and that changed his income dramatically.

Although Sun's income increased, his parents did not understand him and thought pole dancing was an obscene activity done in nightclubs.

Sun took part in a national pole dancing competition in Tianjin in 2012 for the first time, but came last.

"I was not disappointed when I came last because I developed friendship with masters and learned from them," said Sun.

In 2013, Sun became a reserve member of the Chinese national pole dancing team. Though it's called a national team, members only get together for training before big games, and they have to pay for training and competitions out of their own pockets.

Sun reached a high mark in his career in 2014 when he won the 4th National Pole Dancing Tournament. He also won the best performance award at the 2014 World Pole Dance Championship. He won his parents too and they accepted his career choice.

Sun raised money and opened his training institute in Guangzhou.

Pole dancing also brought Sun love. He plans to marry his girlfriend, also a pole dancer, soon.

If pole dancing becomes an Olympic Games event one day, I want to be the first champion," said Sun. "The best I can do now is promote positive energy by making pole dancing popular."