Wang Yuanyuan, Cheng Lulu cheekywang@hotmail.com TO many people, Qiu Binbin is more than just the manager of a small bakery in Guanlan, Longhua New Area. In the evenings, he is a star to thousands. Every night, he and his team take to the square in front of Tianfu Commercial Trading City in Guanlan and teach hundreds of residents to dance for free. “Qiu is a huge star. He helps us get exercise and enjoy life. During the break, he inspires us with other successful people’s stories,” said Long Guiyun, one of the regular dancers on the square. After five years of hard work, Qiu and his team now host 39 “Happy Ocean” dance-teaching spots like the one in the square in front of Tianfu Commercial Trading City across the city and have taught more than 500,000 residents. A 31-year-old high school dropout, Qiu is now described as “charity dancing king” by his fans and students. “There is no secret to my success,” said Qiu. “I just like dancing and bringing joy to people.” Establishing ‘Happy Ocean’ Born in 1981, Qiu came to Shenzhen from his hometown in Jiangxi Province in 2000. Because of his lack of education and experience, he could only get jobs such as textile factory worker, garbage repairman, delivery man, security guard and telecommunication worker during his first 10 years in the city. With the little savings that he had, he opened a small bakery in Guanlan. In 2004, Qiu helped his father operate a dance venue in his spare time. “I just sat by the entrance and collected admission fees. Business was bad in the beginning,” he said. To help maintain the dance venue, Qiu decided to learn to dance himself. “It was very interesting. I am not normally a fast learner, but I managed to learn enough dance moves to become a teacher in just 20 days,” he said. His patience as a teacher attracted many people to the dance venue. Sometimes, there were more than 1,000 people in the venue. “I used to be an unkempt and slovenly man, but dancing has taught me how to treat people right. Dancing can change one’s mind and outlook,” he said. In 2005, a 22-year-old factory worker died of a drug overdose in a public toilet next to the dance venue and Qiu witnessed police take away the body. “Such a short life ended because of drugs. I was shocked and the experience was somewhat traumatic,” he said. Qiu then decided to do something about raising awareness of drugs after discussing it with friends. “We did some promotional activities on the street with our own money, but I thought it was not enough. So after a while, I had an idea of combining raising awareness of drugs with dancing, telling people to stay away from drugs and cherish life with activities such as dancing,” he said. In 2008, Qiu started a free dance-teaching spot on a square before an RT-mart supermarket in Longhua New Area. Sometime later, when the program started to spread elsewhere, Qiu and his friends decided to call the venues “Happy Ocean” free dance-teaching spots. Helping migrant workers As a migrant worker with little education, Qiu had no idea what a nongovernmental organization (NGO) or a charity was when he started his anti-drugs campaign. “At that time, my friends and I just wanted to do something to help other migrant workers like us enjoy a quality life,” he said. In Qiu’s opinion, the most painful and difficult thing for migrant workers is not lack of material wealth. “The worst thing is that there are not many healthy forms of entertainment to let us recuperate from our monotonous jobs. Group activities can ease the pressure on us and capture our imaginations,” he said. This kind of thinking inspired Qiu’s campaign. “I like reading the inspiring stories of successful people. Their hard work and spirit are a big motivation in both business and life,” he said. Wang Mingying, who learns dancing with Qiu, has said Qiu is also a hugely inspiring figure. “I have danced with Qiu for two years and now I feel that I have a stronger body and better temper,” said Wang. “In the past, I spent most of my free time in front of a computer and had nothing else to do. It was so boring. But now I feel happy and fulfilled. If I don’t go to the dance-teaching spot for more than two days, I will feel uncomfortable,” he said. Qiu’s small bakery has also become popular due to his fame as a dance instructor. “It is cozy and homely. Many dancers drop in when they are in the area. My friends all celebrate their birthdays with my cakes. I also provide snacks for short-distance trips,” said Qiu. “Dancing is like charity. Both involve expending a lot of energy and bringing happiness to others,” he said. Future plan Qiu and his team have big plans for their future. “We want to form more than 100 free dance-teaching spots across Guangdong Province, providing dance venues to at least 500,000 migrant workers,” he said. Qiu, however, is still worried about many issues. The first thing is financial difficulties. The first dance-teaching spot was started with 3,000 yuan of Qiu’s savings. Until now, the spots are still maintained with the money from the savings of Qiu and his students. “But it is not a long-term plan because we were all migrant workers with low income. If we want to promote and expand our projects, our savings will be far from adequate,” he said. The second issue is finding staff. “As the group becomes bigger, we need more professional people with open minds, particularly those with computer aptitude. We also need people to train dancers, hosts and managers. I really hope more people can join in our activities,” he said. However, Qiu has never thought of giving up. “In recent years, we have had great fun and I have seen improvements in many of our students and regular dancers. I think this [free dance-teaching] is a meaningful thing to do because we [help] change the bleak factory world [by providing] a happy dance floor,” he said. I think this [free dance-teaching] is a meaningful thing to do because we [help] change the bleak factory world [by providing] a happy dance floor.” — Qiu Binbin, a 31-year-old high school dropout who now manages 39 “Happy Ocean” free dance-teaching spots across the city | 