From the International Herald Tribune:
This week’s third annual China Salsa Congress in Beijing, which features four days of performances and competition, highlights the growing popularity of salsa in China. Salsa was introduced to China in the late 1990s by Latin American diplomats and businessmen and has grown quickly-in the last four years, more than a dozen dance studios have opened in Beijing and 4,000 people are expected to attend the Congress.
In a country where social dancing was banned during the Cultural Revolution and overt feminine sensuality was condemned, salsa’s unabashed eroticism is part of the allure. “Chinese culture doesn’t let women express sexiness,” said Wang Shuang, a 35-year-old marketing executive who said salsa has given her a new sense of self. “Because of salsa I know passion.”
