Chenjiagou (CNS) -- International Taichi fans gathered at the 6th Jiaozuo Taichi Contest in Chenjiagou, Henan Province on August 22.
Chenjiagou has been named by the China Civil Technology Entrepreneur Association and the China Wushu Association as the cradle of Taichiquan, a kind of Chinese traditional shadow boxing.
Chen Xiangxiang, 43, was born and raised in Chenjiagou, where over 80% of the people practice Taichi. He said Taichi culture is everywhere here. It is a kind of "Holy Land" for Taichi fans.
Some Taichi fans from Hong Kong were impressed by the strong Taichi culture here, but also felt it to be a little bit too commercial and noisy. Mr. Wang from Shanxi Province also commented that on his first visit he was surprised that it was not as quiet as he had expected.
Both in Henan Province, Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng and Chenjiagou are the birth places of the two most influential martial arts in China. However, the former is much better known than the latter. With over a 700-year history, Chenjiagou only gained the public's attention during the annual Taichi contest.
On the square in front of the Taichi Museum, thousands of tourists are enjoying Taichi performances. According to an interpreter at the site, the number of tourists now is two times the usual amount. She is worried that Chenjiagou will soon "cool down" when the contest ends.
Almost everything in Chenjiagou is labeled with Taichi, even if it doesn't have much relativity. In the Taichi Ancestral Shrine, salespeople are promoting a Taichi alcoholic drink for about 300 yuan each. Sitting about 100 meters in front of the stand are the brass statue of the Taichi founder Chen Wangting and stone tablets of generations of Taichi masters.
In 2005, the local government expanded the original temple to the current shrine, and combined another spot with the shrine as a tourist site. So far, the "shrine" has been surrounded by all kinds of "Taichi" shops.
Wang Meng, a graduate student at Anhui University, views the marketing approach a must to encourage more popularity and prosperity.
A local sports official said, "If not commercialized, Chenjiagou and Taichi will meet with plenty of future challenges. Shaolin Temple won fame through a movie. Marketing emphasis is exactly what Chenjiagou needs."
Scarcely known by the public, Chenjiagou is searching for a path to the market. Despite possible economic gains, some villagers are still concerned about the over commercialization of Chenjiagou, considering what has already happened at the Shaolin Temple.
