Taking Zumba With the Chinese

There's something fascinating about working out with people from different cultures. The Chinese like ample stretching, yoga and lots of treadmill walking. Women like to wear the latest Adidas and Nike spandex tops and often don't pull their hair back, preferring their bangs to stick to their foreheads as sweat glistens on their faces. Many of the men wear sleeveless shirts and short shorts. They spend much of their time between weight sets playing on their cell phones and ogling female gym-goers.

Zumba in China. 

But my perceptions of Chinese workouts changed recently. One night, when I was feeling lethargic, I dragged myself to a Zumba class to see what it would be like to salsa and shake my bootie with Chinese classmates. It turned out to be one of the most fun gym classes I've ever taken.

The teacher was completely out there, a total Psy-wanna-be who donned sunglasses at different points in the class, lifted up his shirt to show a semi-soft six pack and even shimmied with some participants. The class was packed, with both women and men, ranging from well-manicured 20 somethings to a man who looked to be in his 50s, wearing a headband and high socks, a la Richard Simmons.

Yep, we did it. 

To my delight, the class was ridiculously energetic. People screamed when Psy-wanna-be turned off the lights for sets of jumping jacks and went wild when we twerked -- yes, you read that right. We also imitated Gangnam Style's riding-a-horse move and the 1980's Walk-like-an-Egyptian dance. Part of me wished I wasn't participating in the class, so I could've taken pictures!

The Bangles would've been proud.

The best part of the workout was the sense of freedom; many of the Chinese, like me, have absolutely no dance moves or rhythm, but they didn't give a crap about how they looked. You could tell they were genuinely having fun, something that is often hard to come by in a society that's censored so much. Being able to shake their booties, lift up their shirts to reveal toned and untoned bellies and yes, to twerk, was such a break from their everyday routines and the energy in the room made many workouts I've attended in the U.S. seem dull. 

We ended the class in true Chinese form: huddled around our Psy-like instructor who took a selfie. I'll definitely be back for more Chinese Zumba.