Dancing groups ruffle feathers around city

People dance in a public square in front of a residential community near a Metro station exit on Yuyuan Road. (Wang Rongjiang)

When night falls, Auntie Liu dons her dancing clothes, walks about 20 minutes to Sichuan Road N. Park in Hongkou District and joins groups of people there tripping the light fantastic.

"It is my favorite pastime since retirement," said Liu, 56. "I feel energetic and younger when I am dancing."

Dancing in the dark is nothing new in China. It is especially popular among older people.

But dancing means music, and music all too often means audio gear turned up too loud.

The southern city of Guangzhou is considering a law banning dancing in public places, which has put the issue in the public spotlight.

Proponents of the law say that nighttime dancing creates too much noise at a time of day when many neighbors crave peace and quiet or want to sleep. The proposed law could result in fines of up to 1,000 yuan (US$161) for violators.

Shanghai has embarked on its own curtailment of street noise after dark.

Starting March 1, regulations came into effect banning dancers and outdoor karaoke singers from playing loud music in public areas from 10pm to 6am.

Audio equipment with speakers is prohibited all day at such venues, except for government-approved entertainment performances.

Violators can be fined up to 500 yuan by police if their noise disturbs others. But in the nine months since the regulations came into effect, there seems to have been little enforcement.

Nighttime dancing

In Shanghai, there are several public areas popular with nighttime dance groups.

In addition to the Sichuan Road N. Park in Hongkou, Zhongshan Park in Changning District, Yangpu Park in Yangpu District and Meichuan Road in Putuo District are among the most widely known.

"Some of the dancers live far away and have to take two buses to come here because they love dancing like I do and get addicted to it," said Liu, brushing off criticism about the effects of noise on adjacent neighborhoods.

But her rapture is not shared by everyone.

Residents living at nearby communities have been known to hurl "excreta bombs" at dancers or even set Tibetan mastiffs loose on them in some parts of China.

"These dancers are driving me mad," said Tian Fengfeng, 50, who lives opposite Sichuan Road N. Park.

"These groups compete with each other in terms of the loudness of music. They should be absolutely banned from dancing near residential communities. They are selfish, and the noise they make severely affects me."

Tian said he has to keep his balcony windows closed and thick curtains drawn to keep out the noise. He has resorted to turning up his television or radio, and wearing earplugs and thick hats when he goes to bed. He said his complaints to authorities have drawn no response.

Angry residents of the building once posted a notice alongside the elevator of the first floor, urging others to take action, such as dousing dancers with cold water, but the campaign was thwarted by security guards, Tian said.