Ancient practice that brings calm and fitness

At the entrance to the gym at Beijing Sport University's health qigong training center, a dark plaque with the two bright Chinese characters ping jing easily draws the attention of visitors.

Literally meaning calm in English, it is a state of mind demonstrated by the slow yet smooth moves of Hu Xiaofei, founder of the center.

He demonstrates iconic health qigong gestures in accordance with breathing rhythms during training sessions every Thursday afternoon.