The China-India Yoga College has drawn thousands since it opened in November last year in Kunming in China's Yunnan province.
Based in the Yunnan Minzu (Nationalities) University, the country's first yoga college frequently has students queue up for free lessons in the ancient art, reports Xinhua news agency.
Lu Fang, deputy director of the college, said more than five dozen full-time students have completed yoga sessions. Close to 3,000 people participated in free yoga sessions offered by the college.
"Several companies and government offices invited our teachers to teach yoga," said Lu.
Yoga was first introduced into China by Hong Kong practitioner Wai Lana in the 1980s. Her workout programmes, which aired daily on China's Central Television, were the starting point for many Chinese yogis.
China's white collar workers have adopted yoga as a way to stay fit, with many attending a couple of sessions per week in the gym or studio.
Lu said a growing number of people want to learn from Indian yoga masters.
"They not only learn yoga positions, but also sutras, philosophy, culture and dining habits from the Indian tutors," Xinhua quoted Lu as saying.
"I only knew about Iyengar style, but after extensive learning with Indian tutors, I have come to a much deeper understanding of the yoga art," said Han Mingxue, a Chinese yoga teacher in the college.
The college figured in one of 24 agreements reached during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to China in May last year.
![](https://media.darpanmagazine.com/library/uploads/news/content/yoga-china#@</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
under the agreement, india sends at least two tutors to the college. it does not issue degrees, but students who want a degree in yoga can pursue further study at indian colleges.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
velusamy subbulakshmi, who came from india's krishnamacharya yoga mandiram, has spent the past five months giving yoga lessons.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
she said it was not hard to communicate yoga culture with chinese learners. "for example, the chinese taiji (shadowboxing), has a great deal of similarity with yoga," she said.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
"yoga has become the most popular form of cultural exchange between china and india," said ding shaoxiang, vice governor of yunnan province.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
china and india, as neighbours and two of the world's fastest growing economies, have great potential in deepening cultural exchanges, he said.</div>.jpg)
MORE International ARTICLES
Pakistan Registers Fir Against Pathankot Airbase Attack
The FIR, number 06/2016, was registered in the CTD police station Gujranwala town.
Pakistan Registers Fir Against Pathankot Airbase Attack
University Of Texas Allows Guns In Classrooms
The University of Texas at Austin has begrudgingly agreed to allow students to carry guns into classrooms, months after state lawmakers passed a bill outlawing gun bans at public universities.
University Of Texas Allows Guns In Classrooms
Duchess Of Cambridge Raises Mental Health Issues In Huffpost
LONDON — The Duchess of Cambridge is trying to shatter the stigma attached to mental health issues as she guest edits an edition of the Huffington Post.
Duchess Of Cambridge Raises Mental Health Issues In Huffpost
Apple To Fight Order To Help FBI Unlock San Bernardino Shooter Syed Farook's Iphone
U.S. Magistrate Judge had ordered Apple to help the FBI break into an iPhone belonging to Syed Farook, one of the shooters in the Dec. 2 attack that killed 14 people. Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, died in a gun battle with police
Apple To Fight Order To Help FBI Unlock San Bernardino Shooter Syed Farook's Iphone
Watch: Marco Rubio Presidential Campaign Advertisement Mistakenly Uses Vancouver Skyline
Does a new campaign ad by a Republican presidential hopeful mistake a classic Canadian skyline for an American locale?
Watch: Marco Rubio Presidential Campaign Advertisement Mistakenly Uses Vancouver Skyline
Veteran Designer Manish Arora Conferred France's Highest Honour
French Ambassador Francois Richier on Tuesday conferred the Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur, his country's highest honour, on veteran designer Manish Arora