Across public squares, parks, and plazas in China, groups of older women congregate in the early hours of the morning, late afternoon, or night to dance together to Chinese music (Davidson, 2021; Kirkpatrick, 2015).
Every day, tens of millions of “dancing grannies” participate in Guangchang Wu (square dancing in Mandarin) as a way to experience community (Xiao and Hilton, 2019). With Guangchang Wu known to be a physical exercise that involves music and dancing (Xiao and Hilton, 2019), many of these overly enthusiastic “dancing grannies” blast music from their speakers at unbelievably high levels while boogying (Kuo, 2021).
While many of these “dancing grannies” see Guangchang Wu as a “collective aspect of Chinese culture” (Kirkpatrick, 2015) and an effective social activity that provides entertainment at a low financial cost with health benefits, many of their neighbours and younger counterparts beg to differ (Xiao and Hilton, 2019), viewing these women as a public nuisance and source of noise pollution.
The sound level during a typical dance session frequently exceeds the national emission standard for urban community noise in Beijing which is 70 dBA during the day and 55 dBA during the night, going up to 85 to 100 dBA (Xiao and Hilton, 2019).
The dispute over the noise emitted from these “dancing grannies” has been a cause of concern, with the long-standing tradition giving rise to noisy standoffs between different groups that take place in densely populated residential areas, disrupting the peace of many (Davidson, 2021).
With these conflicting interests between different communities in mind, how then can we approach Guangchang Wu and its concomitant environmental noise pollution without killing off the cultural tradition that goes back decades?
Stay tuned to find out more in the next entry.
Until then, stay safe and stay woke! 🤔
References:
Davidson, H. (2021). China’s noisy ‘dancing grannies’ silenced by device that disables speakers. Retrieved 1 February 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/08/chinas-noisy-dancing-grannies-silenced-by-device-that-disables-speakers
Kirkpatrick, N. (2015). China’s war on square-dancing grannies. Retrieved 1 February 2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/03/25/chinas-war-on-square-dancing-grannies/
Kuo, L. (2021). The jig is up for China’s dancing grannies under new noise pollution law. Retrieved 1 February 2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/12/17/china-dancing-grannies-noise/
Xiao, J., & Hilton, A. (2019). An investigation of soundscape factors influencing perceptions of square dancing in urban streets: a case study in a county level city in China. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(5), 840.