How many people in China regularly practice Qigong

Qigong
It is difficult to estimate how many people in China regularly practice Qigong. Estimates from government health administrators, physicians, Qigong masters, and the directors of the Qigong institutes range from 80 million to 150 million people. In Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Hong Kong, and other, smaller communities throughout China, the parks are filled every morning with people doing a nearly infinite variety of different self-care practices-some sitting in meditation, some standing in meditation among trees, some in small groups doing self-massage and breathing practices, some in large groups doing taijiquan (t'ai chi ch'uan), some in pairs, some doing taijiquan with swords, some doing taijiquan with large red fans, some doing more vigorous forms of wu shu, some doing a kind of Qigong aerobics with music, and some doing a sort of ballroom dancing Qigong with partners and a voice, over music, saying, "inhale," "exhale."

Hangzhou is a tourist and silk center in China. A popular saying proclaims that "above there is heaven, below there is Hangzhou." In the 8th century AD, a lagoon off the Qiantang River was transformed into a huge lake called Xi Hu, and later the Song dynasty used Hangzhou as the Capital of China. Around the lake are beautiful parks and plazas, which are filled with people practicing the traditional Chinese methods of health enhancement and self-care in the early mornings. At 6:30 am, an estimated six to seven thousand people practice around the lake. It's an incredible sight, an inspiration. It is a kind of health wonder of the world. Click to learn how Chinese medicine treats Pleural Effusion.

In one group, all wearing the same outfit and moving in unison to music, over 300 people practice together. The taijiquan fan group has between 100 to 200 participants. The largest taiji sword group numbers over 100. Perhaps the numbers are lower on a Tuesday or Wednesday? Not really! Every day, huge numbers of people perform health maintenance practices that are easy to learn and apply and profound in their clinical effects.

Across China, one can find thousands of various forms of Qigong self-care in current practice. There are medical forms named for particular organs or body functions like "the liver exercise" or "activating the spleen and stomach." There are poetic forms named after animals, seasons, or forces of nature, such as "dancing dragon flying," "fire fusing with water," and "five animal frolics." There are martial forms like "supreme, ultimate boxing" and "iron shirt." There are forms named after individuals and families like "Yang's Taiji," "Chen's Taiji," "Zhang's Channel Conductance Qigong," or "Hai Deng's secret method." Some are named for temples or spiritual figures like "Shaolin qigong," "Kuan Yin practice," "Taoist alchemy," or "Buddhist Lohan form." Clearly, the self-care heritage of China is rich and long.