International Yoga Day celebrated in China

The Great Wall of China became an unlikely studio for yoga lovers yesterday, as they came together to celebrate the discipline.

Yoga fans practise yoga on the occasion of the International Yoga Day in Datong City, north China's Shanxi Province, June 21, 2017. [Photo: Xinhua]

In the run up to International Yoga Day, which is observed today and its third year, events across the country have been taking place with local governments in small towns staging yoga events in innovative fashion.

The Great Wall event saw the Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh, as well as 200 participants practicing yoga postures.

The experience was jointly organised by the Embassy of India, Beijing Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) and Yogi Yoga, a popular yoga school.

The event was a cultural milestone, marking the first time yoga has been performed atop the Great Wall by a joint Indian and Chinese group of yogis, the embassy said in a statement.

In a brief speech, Singh talked about the benefits of discipline saying that yoga was Indian civilisation’s gift to the world.

Yoga fans practise yoga during an event marking the International Yoga Day, which falls on June 21 every year, in Yangzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, June 20, 2017. [Photo: Xinhua]

Charge d’Affaires of the Indian Embassy Amit Narang and CPAFFC Vice-President Lin Yi hailed the event for taking forward India-China friendly cultural exchanges and yoga for bringing wellness to humanity.

There are currently 10,800 yoga schools in China and one India-China Yoga College at Yunnan Minzu University in Kunming, with the practice gaining in popularity.