Dancers perform a belly dance in the undated photo. [Guanzhou Daily]

Belly dance originated in Egypt, but now it's a favorite pastime of white-collar workers in Guangzhou, in southern China's Guangdong province, local paper Guangzhou Daily reports.

"I started my belly dance business three years ago, and now I already own eight branches," Ms. Ma, the founder of a belly dance club in the city, said, "Many members were just curious about the dance at the beginning, but after training, they are enjoying it much more than before."

Ms. Lunna, an instructor at a belly dance club, said, "In the belly dance clubs, most of the members are between 20 and 35 years old, and they do the dance to keep slim."

But compared with Beijing and Shanghai, the industry in Guangzhou is still very young. The expertise levels of coaches in the clubs vary widely, and some of them lack qualifications to teach, so the industry needs to set a benchmark for coaches.

Feng Shuangbai, vice-chairman of the Chinese Dancers Association, said, "By now, there is no particular department or rule to supervise the belly dance industry due to its popularity, and we still have many problems to overcome thus we can not set a standard in the industry currently."

(CRI September 23, 2008)