STRIDING FORWARD: Nordic walkers step out in Ditan Park, Beijing

If you get up early and visit any of Beijing's parks, you're likely to see people of all ages engaged in some form of exercise. Yuyuantan Park, in the western part of the city, is one of the biggest parks and always a hive of activity. On Saturday morning September 6, squads of dancers went through their paces next to taiji practitioners, while joggers sweated in the fresh morning air.

One group seemed to attract more attention than others. About 30 people had set off on their walk, each holding a pair of aluminum poles and moving their arms and legs in a steady rhythm.

"Why are they walking with those poles? Are they handicapped people?" an elderly female observer asked.

"Of course not," said Tian Qinghua, the group trainer. "This is called Nordic walking. It originated in Northern Europe. Using the poles can help people exercise more muscle groups compared with walking just with the legs."

Tian, a trainer at China's Representative Office of the International Nordic Walking Association, has been a professional trainer of Nordic walking for more than two years, since the sport first came to China.

"A lot of people couldn't understand this practice at first since this new way of walking looks a bit strange to them," said Tian. Now China has more than 20,000 people participating in this sport, half of them in Beijing.

"We have 13 parks in Beijing used as free training venues for Nordic walking, Yuyuantan Park is just one of them," said Tian, "Our training here starts at 7:30 a.m. every Tuesday and Saturday morning, and we provide poles for free during the training courses."

The poles are specially designed with one end fixed to the wrist and another end designed in the shape of small feet which touch the ground softly. Evolving from ski walking, a training method used by skiers in summer, it has become more and more popular since it has no strict time or space requirements. As long as you can walk, you can practice it. Walkers found that they can walk with larger strides using the poles, which can relieve pain in the knees and feet.

"Now, almost 19 percent of Finns are practicing Nordic walking and the number of the walkers around the world has reached 8 million," said Tian. After practicing it for several years, Tian said the sport is helpful for improving stamina and very good for the health.

Gao Xiaosong, a foreign company employee, has practiced Nordic walking for about three months. She lives near Yuyuantan Park and trains twice a week. "My intention is to become healthier. I feel good after three months and I will continue the practice," she said.

Compared with Gao, Yu Huimin, a pensioner, is a novice walker. "I learnt this sport from the sport channel of CCTV. Then I spent some time looking for training venues in Beijing, and I am happy to find one near my home," said Yu. She decided to buy her own pair of poles, the price of which varies from 100 yuan ($14.6) to 900 yuan ($132). "I will practice it every day from now on. It is lots of fun especially when walking together with a group of people," she said.

The walkers cover almost all ages, but senior citizens make up the majority. "Elderly people have more spare time and they pay more attention to health issues," said Yu.

Seen as a "green" sport, Nordic walking was used as the theme in many activities put on during the build-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It fits in well with the shifting consciousness toward improving lifestyles and environmental awareness, and is bringing confidence to the early morning brigade who are walking their way to health.