"Dancing in public squares represents the collective aspect of Chinese culture, but now it seems that the overenthusiasm of participants has dealt it a harmful blow with disputes over noise and venues."

"So we have to guide it with national standards and regulations," said Liu Guoyong, who heads China's General Administration of Sport’s mass-fitness department.

"That’s ridiculous," said Xiao Kai, 50, taking a break from dancing at an office complex that drew more than 100 women and a smattering of men. "This isn’t a business. Dancing is free and voluntary, so why does the government need to get involved?"...

[China's official news agency] said that in the future public dancing would no longer vary from place to place but would become “a nationally unified, scientifically crafted new activity that brings positive energy to the people.”

[T]he Chinese media frequently lampoon the "dancing grannies"...

"The biggest tragedy is not the square dance by grannies, but the fact that grannies have nothing else to do than square-dance,” [said Xinmin Evening News]. Public dancing in China took root in the 1990s, its ranks fed by the growing legion of women whom the government forces into retirement in their mid-50s....

Asked about noise complaints, one 58-year-old retired public servant threw her head back with a laugh and did a little jig. "The louder the music, the more fun it is," she said....