Students use their summer to practice tai chi

According to the local government, about 420,000 residents in Yongnian out of its 990,000 population practice tai chi, and more that 100,000 outsiders came annually to learn. 

Local tai chi masters have also spread the art overseas. Han Qingmin, the fifth-generation heir of Yang-style tai chi, is one of the prominent masters. Since 2003, when he founded the Guangfu Yang Luchan Tai Chi School, Han has received increasing numbers of students from home and abroad. Last year, he taught more than 120 foreign students. Branch schools have also been established in other countries, including Russia and Germany.

In addition, more than 1,000 local tai chi masters established professional schools for teaching the sport, with more than 30 doing so overseas.

In 2020, taijiquan, its Chinese name, was placed on the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list by UNESCO, which described it as a traditional physical practice characterized by relaxed, circular movements that work in concert with breath regulation and the cultivation of a righteous and neutral mind. 

Originating in the mid-17th century in Henan's Wenxian county, it is now practiced nationwide by people of all ages.