Remote control silences noisy grannies of China | Abroad

That writes The Guardian. The grandmothers gather in squares and parks, early in the morning or early evening. They dance to loud Chinese music. This leads to resentment and real riots because, according to others, the music disturbs the serene peace – and the cities are already so busy and full.

Last week a remedy for the noise pollution went viral: a kind of remote control in the form of a gun that switches off the music boxes. Reviews are positive. “It’s finally quiet downstairs,” it reads.

“Great invention. With this I am the boss in my neighborhood,” writes another.

According to The Guardian, there are 100 million dance mas in China. They are, of course, very right. State media described the dance as a “positive and effective way to break down physical and financial limits” and “improve the quality of life of the elderly.”

But things are getting out of hand. Different groups compete with each other for the available public places. They compete against each other in terms of the volume of the music. Videos also show how they get into a fight with basketball players or break in during a football game and take over the field.

Sometimes it gets hostile. In Shijiazhuang, local residents throw smelly tofu, paint and gasoline at the women as they dance. It would even have been thrown with human feces. Chinese authorities have struggled with the tradition for years.

Square dancing has its origins in the 1960s during the Cultural Revolution. “The square dancing is a shadow of the past. Many elderly believe that all of China is built by their generation. They have the strongest voice and status. We young people have nothing, and are not qualified to say anything against it,” said one young person. Yet the remote control shows that young people are serious now.

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