Taiji and the luxury lifestyle

The popularity of yoga, spinning and Pilates classes at gyms in top-tier cities suggests that taiji quan, as a homegrown means of keeping yourself physically and spiritually in synch, is one Chinese traditional art in need of some serious re-branding.

Adding insult to injury, it is also often translated as "shadow boxing", rather than the more accurate and death-defying moniker "supreme ultimate fist", which highlights how much of a pounding its street cred has taken.

Even the tinge of menace associated with the word "boxing" soon fades in the minds of most foreigners, who see taiji as kungfu lite, or as something exotic your granny may pick up when she grows tired of collecting food-discount vouchers at Tesco.