Liu Keqing

kevinkqliu@gmail.com

AS the living standards have improved significantly over the past four decades, people are increasingly paying attention to their physical well-being. About 10 years ago, almost suddenly, a form of entertainment started to evolve all over China: dance parties in the squares, large or small, in communities and neighborhoods every evening. In the past few years, such parties have even spread to some foreign countries.

Dancing every evening, rain or shine — (drizzle) rain or (moon) shine, helps the dancers keep fit. Interestingly enough, 99.99 percent of them are housewives and grandmas in their 50s and 60s; these people are trying to make up for their younger times that lacked entertainment.

But an issue arises simultaneously that has aroused concern — the music that accompanies the dance parties.

Not to be blamed that their accompanying music is, in most cases, inferior in artistic value, dry and often without soul. For the untrained ears, any music that can be played is good, although it can become a nuisance to the residents near the squares if they can tell the difference between such music and decent pop music, let alone classical music.

The more concerning problem is that their music is played repeatedly at high decibels through loudspeakers at night when it is supposed to be quiet in the living quarters.

In populous China, the cities have a limited land supply, with limited space available for public squares to be built. Those in the suburban areas are too far away. The residents are vying for scant resources.

In a neighborhood near my community, the situation turned better only after a huge banner had been hung on the outer wall of a 30-story apartment building, each character one-meter tall, that read: “Your high-volume noise has violated the environment protection law!” In another case, the disturbed residents nearby scattered bits of broken glass in the square in an attempt to stop the dancing.

Troubled residents in a Hangzhou, Zhejiang, neighborhood had raised 260,000 yuan (about US$40,000 ) and purchased an effective weapon, a “directional sound cannon” whose sound beams can suppress the sound waves from the dancers. In some events, altercations and even physical fights occurred.

Any person surely has the right to do whatever they please within the boundary of law and ethics. Square dancers should be considerate of others’ feelings, and not breach others’ rights.

To balance between the need for keeping healthy through the square dances and other people’s need for a quiet environment, square dancers should act in a controlled way.

The city planners also need to take into consideration the vast popularity of the square dance parties and try to have more squares built farther away from residential buildings.

Technology can also play a role. For example, the People’s Daily online edition once reported that a junior middle school student invented a dish-antenna-like “rear-projection vector directional sound device” to solve the problem of the loud music. It even won an award from the city of Beijing in 2014.

Many city managers have been alerted to this problem and have promulgated rules to regulate and take measures to mitigate the situation for more peaceful and harmonious communities. The Beijing student’s being awarded speaks volumes about their stance. Hopefully, more solutions can be developed.

(A former bank professional, the author is a business executive who has been extensively published in China, Germany and Singapore.)