China is different. Make no dog bones about it, China harbours a few very different cultural quirks from the rest of the world. The cultural ab-norms extend well into running and exercise. For example, there is a subculture where people run for social media video production in slow-mo. Yes, you read that correctly. Not slow runners, but runners running in slow motion. If you are just learning the English language—we admit it—English is quirky, but there is a big difference between running slow and running in slow-motion.
Chain-smoking marathon running
There was the story of the male Chinese runner who competed in the 2022 Xin’anjiang Marathon.
“Uncle Chen,” a 50-year-old runner from China, gained international viral fame for chain-smoking cigarettes while competing in several marathons, including the 2022 Xin’anjiang Marathon. Despite this unhealthy habit, he achieved respectable times, such as finishing the Xin’anjiang Marathon in 3:28, placing 574th out of nearly 1,500 runners.
Crawling
Yang Sheng is a popular form of exercise. Defiantly, the cult is about crawling.
This primal activity is touted as offering physiological benefits of strengthening the spine and the core, while psychologists subscribe to the notion that the activity serves two benefits: “finding your inner child to gain inner peace,” and “to appear as a victim of the toxic drug crisis to qualify for government-funded anti-toxic drugs.”
Baby come back
Chinese officials disqualified and banned a male runner for racing with a newborn baby strapped to his chest.
A video showed a participant carrying his newborn during last week’s Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon. He was disqualified from the race at the 15 km mark for failing to comply with safety regulations, with more severe charges possibly in line.
According to official live tracking data, the athlete started at 6:25 AM and was ordered off the course shortly after passing 15 kms, as officials immediately sent him off for breaching competition guidelines. “He must refrain from dangerous behaviour,” organizers explained in a statement. The rules expressly prohibit running with babies or children under 16, or with anyone who is not wearing an official race bib.
Oddly enough, the video making the social media rounds shows that it was the baby wearing the bib corresponding to his parent, which was attached to the straps holding the child. Meanwhile, the man was identified by bib number A2055. After just over two hours of running — during which time the child could be seen swaying with every stride of the runner. The pair’s unusual adventure on the race course came to an end.
In a press release, the Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association stated that all participants “must strictly comply with the regulations and refrain from any behaviour that may endanger their own or others’ safety during the race.” However, the matter has not ended with a simple disqualification, as the runner’s conduct is now under investigation for alleged child abuse, following a complaint filed on the same day as the race.
Well, there goes any chance of the family cultural tradition of “tongyangxi” (童养媳).
