China's beer-belly males giving belly dancing a whirl

Zhang Sheng, 38, a department chief of a local firm in Beijing, heads for his belly dancing class every weekend.

"Too many business banquets and not enough physical exercise left me with a beer belly. Then I was introduced to belly dancing. To my surprise, it helped me lose fat and reduce tension from work," Zhang said. He's been dancing for three months.

A growing number of young and middle-aged men, especially white-collar workers and students in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu are signing up for belly dancing classes.