KM: What can you tell me about how Chinese people like to spend their leisure time?

Yang Qi: Leisure means what people are doing during their free time for me. Chinese people want leisure activities to be sporty and healthy. More and more people are doing sports because they have more opportunities to do it and they are also more willing to do it. Doing sports is getting more and more popular, especially team sports, in different ways. First of all, it is a means to connect socially.

Another reason is that Chinese people want to show their social status through leisure. For example playing tennis and golf means you have enough time and more money to play and enjoy a more luxurious life than other people. Finally the young generation wants to show its difference and young spirit when they practice rock climbing, sky-diving, BMX, skateboarding, etc. These sports are becoming popular among young people because having a hobby that was introduced recently from Western countries means “being different”. The sport industry is changing and there are more infrastructures that enable people to practice sport.


David Ritter: Well it’s different from American leisure. Recently there was a holiday in China. You know on holidays Chinese people might find a place to go, visit some of the famous sites and so many people go to the same sites! But I think… My experience of Chinese famous sites is this: that they are more interested in providing entertainment than preserving historical value and some of their treasured places including the Great Wall, for instance, in Badaling. And I think from the perspective of someone who is from America, a country that doesn’t have a lot of history, we value “historical purity” very highly. So you now have one difference.

Another thing that is different about leisure in China is they are less interested in sports I think, than we are in America. So in that regard, a lot of their leisure activities revolve around eating food, going to bars or to dance clubs. They don’t do house parties as often as we do in America. House parties are less popular, maybe because more Chinese people live with their family. But I think in term of basic weekend leisure, I think it’s quite similar: going to bars, going to dance clubs, going out to have dinner with your friends, sometimes going to see a movie or even going to a friend’s house for dinner. I think all these things are pretty much the same, pretty similar. And I think the Chinese people are very easy going, fun to hang out with, they like to have a good time, they have a good sense of humor.

One of the differences in Chinese leisure activities that I have also noticed in my few years here relates to differences in leisure habits for men and women. My first time in China, in 2008, I was surprised to find in many places (particularly smaller, more traditional cities) that women were discouraged from drinking and smoking in public places. I believe this notion has changed quite a lot in the last few years, with men and women in the younger generation being much more open minded about these and other issues.


KM: You are only talking about sports, Yang Qi. Does leisure only include sports?

Yang Qi: I don’t know what about in France but in Australia, for example, leisure is broader than sports. Leisure includes sports and also the daily life that may be having just a free time a few days without doing anything with your family on a beach, or living in a tent, that is cool leisure, or just spending several hours walking along the beach and going swimming. This is different from China because in China, especially in Sichuan Province, leisure is pretty much nothing else than sports. Apart from sports there isn’t anything left but there are reasons for that.

In Australia, probably because they are surrounded by the ocean, they have more opportunities to enjoy the ocean and take it as a part of their leisure life. But in Sichuan, there are only mountains so probably going hiking is leisure but hiking is not as relaxing as “normal” leisure. It’s not the most relaxed kind of leisure. So that’s probably why in Sichuan, leisure is closely connected to sports. The definition of leisure is different according to the place you live. For example in Hainan, people prefer water activities, in Beijing, people prefer snow skiing and so on.


KM: You told me that apart from sports there is not much left, but what is left though?

Yang Qi: What is left, well… majiang! They play majiang you know. I think my definition of leisure is roughly about using one’s time to do what you want to do for your body and your soul to get relaxed from work. Because work can be tiring, right? So during their free time what would they do: they would play majiang for the whole day, drink tea and apart from that they can do sports or sleep.


So in a way leisure life in Sichuan is more passive, quieter – Sichuanese people are not moving a lot. This is why Sichuanese people are skinnier than people in the north of China. This is a good example of how life patterns influence people’s body.


KM: You think it is different from Beijing?

Yang Qi: Yes, there is a huge difference. Because of historical reasons first. Sichuan has been known as a very relaxed and slow paced environment in China but Beijing has never been as relaxing as Sichuan Province in Chinese history. And this is closely related to geographical reasons. Sichuan is surrounded by mountains and has been protected in a way. So people don’t want to go out or at least it’s not easy for them to go out, especially in old times. But in Beijing there is not any natural element to protect them, especially between Beijing and Mongolia. So they cannot be quiet or passive. So people in Beijing have to fight against the Mongolians and their lifestyle has thus been determined by both geographical and historical reasons. So what Beijing people do during their leisure time, well…I know! They go to work and after work they are jammed on the road for three hours because of the bad traffic and then get home.


KM: You said leisure is mostly sports, playing majiang and sleeping. What about going to a restaurant or a bar? How is it now for most Chinese people?

Yang Qi: Compared to the first group I mentioned it’s still a small part because not many people go to bars to drink. But yes, some people do it. It’s a whole new way of interacting with other people for them. Before they didn’t have such a place that gave them the opportunity to interact with other boys and girls in that way. Over the last 10 or 20 years the pub and bar culture has been introduced in China and the Chinese young generation has immediately accepted it and is enjoying it.


KM: Going to the restaurant with friends is something new also?

Yang Qi: No, I mean going to the pub is a new habit. Going to the restaurant remains Chinese leisure and this hasn’t changed for ages. It is the same in every country around the world.


KM: So in your opinion leisure is just the same in China as in the rest of the world?

Yang Qi: No there are some differences. Typical Chinese leisure would rather be drinking tea, playing Majiang or go to see traditional Chinese opera, while drinking in a pub is a custom coming from abroad.


KM: What about travelling? More and more Chinese people are travelling around China or around the world. Do you consider travelling as Chinese people’s leisure?

Yang Qi: Yes. People want to discover new things, have new experiences. They have money and free time so they are just eager to discover the world.


KM: What was leisure like traditionally in China in your opinion?

Yang Qi: Traditional leisure has nothing to do with sports. In the past, traditional leisure was already theatre, majiang, drinking tea, painting, writing poems and going to some places to get inspiration, having a drink in a restaurant, going whoring.


KM: So we could say that traditional leisure hasn’t changed. What is different nowadays is just the fact that there are some new customs coming from abroad. Is that right?

Yang Qi: Yes, like in every country. And the technology is helping each generation to enjoy a more advanced life. People are still considering cooking as leisure, as in France, but the cooking instruments are changing in terms of safety and effectiveness. People are still going to the opera in Italy, but they could choose to watch it from the Internet. And finally, people are still performing arts all around the world, but computers have changed it a lot.


KM: David, what is your opinion on these questions?

David Ritter: Well I agree with a lot of what Yang Qi said. I think it’s true indeed that Chinese people are becoming more interested in sports and health related activities but I don’t think that sports in general are popular in China. Gyms for example are becoming popular in China, working out, exercising, but in my circle of friends in China I don’t see a lot of people spending time, participating in or going to be a spectator for team sports, at all.


In my experience in China the vast majority of people are not athletic, not interested in sports. Maybe they play ping pong, maybe they go to the gym, or go running and do some exercise. But as an American, coming from a country where we are crazy about sports, China for me is not interested in sports at all. You know they were really interested in the world cup but I have never seen anybody going to a soccer game in Chengdu – I never see anybody playing soccer in Chengdu. They love the NBA, but I rarely see people playing basketball. So it exists but I just don’t think that it is really widespread.

Another thing that I agree with is when Yang Qi talks about participating in sporting events as a symbol. That is true. People who have enough money in China and enough time will play golf or tennis or racquetball, one of these kind of “status sports”. Definitely, people will do that as a status symbol. But I’m not sure that people doing something for a status symbol qualifies to make it an overall leisure activity in China. I think maybe slowly that will change. And of course he mentioned majiang. Majiang is certainly a major leisure activity, not only in Sichuan like he mentioned, but in other places in China that I visited – but it is particularly big in Sichuan.

One thing he said that I definitely agree with is also that technology has impacted leisure activities. I think that is true in any country. I mean the way that we meet friends, the way that we meet girlfriends and boyfriends, the way that we participate in activities that are interesting for us like our hobbies is so influenced nowadays by the Internet, by social networking websites, mainly by those technologies but even by cell phones and other technologies, so I think that I totally agree with him: technology has had a big impact on leisure activities in China.


KM: What kind of place is the most representative of modern Chinese leisure in your opinion?

Yang Qi: Karaoke, tennis court, golf course.


David Ritter: KTV!


KM: Could you choose one sentence or one word to illustrate Chinese leisure today?

Yang Qi: Nowadays leisure is doing a great job in releasing China’s enormous pressure in daily life.

David Ritter: Chinese leisure is urban.


KM: Thanks to both of you for sharing your views on this issue!