Beijing’s naughty nightspots have been closed for the Olympics, but it hasn’t stopped pole dancing becoming China’s new fitness sport, according to this report.

I used to take a normal aerobics class, but it was boring and monotonous,” Ms. Xiao said. “So I tried out pole dancing. It’s a really social activity. I’ve met a lot of girls here who I’m now close friends with. And I like that it makes me feel sexy.”

Ms. Luo saw how popular it was in American, so she decided to open her own school in China.

“People here have never seen a pole dance, and for that reason they don’t associate it with stripping or women of ill repute,” Ms. Luo said. “I knew if I could give people a positive first impression of this as a clean, fun, social activity, people wouldn’t just accept it, they’d embrace it.”

Maybe people will start calling for pole dancing to become an Olympic sport.