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As an ambassador of the World Pole Sport Federation to China, Meng Yifan is working hard to promote pole dance as an art and sport in China.

Meng is now captain of the China Pole Dance Team as well as the first Chinese person to take part in the World Pole Dance Sport & Fitness Championship.

"When I was a small girl, I studied folk dance, which helped me a lot to choreograph pole dancing," said Meng, the 30-year-old Tianjin, of north China, native.

In 2005, she first saw a video of Chinese pole dancers online. Amazed at the dancers' skills, Meng bought a pole online and taught herself at home.

"I found pole dancing was different from other dances in that most dances have no props. Folk dance may have props, such as hand fans or handkerchiefs, but I had a completely different feeling dancing on the pole," recalled Meng.

"In addition, pole dancing combines both dance movements and artistic skills. It has everything I enjoy: strength, grace and flexibility. In addition, I have a sense of accomplishment in mastering a skill," she added.

In 2007, Meng joined the Tianjin Saujoy Pole Dance Studio and became the lead coach and choreographer. She trained hard as she taught there.

Over the years, Meng has delivered her interpretation of the beauty of the East with her graceful dances despite misunderstandings of pole dancing, as many people think of pole dancing as being synonymous with strip clubs and erotic entertainment.

"In the beginning, my students were reluctant to tell their friends that they were learning pole dancing because it was considered bad," said Meng.

In fact, her parents were also worried when they found their daughter swirling around the pole in her room. When she told her relatives she was working as a pole dance teacher, they frowned and went silent. "I didn't care because there is nothing to be ashamed of," she said.

The situation became better when Meng became the first Chinese contestant to be invited to the World Pole Sport & Fitness Championship. She set a record for China at the 2011 competition by making the top 24 list for the individual competition category.

"My family and friends are wowed by my strength and skillful moves on the pole," said Meng, who is now a stage actor at the Tianjin People's Art Theater.

In October 2012, China established its first national pole dance team in Tianjin. Meng and two other female dancers, Song Yao and Cao Nuo, and one male dancer, Yan Shaoxuan, made the team thanks to their excellent performances at the 2012 China Pole Dance Championship.

Although misconceptions about pole dancing still exist in China, more women, especially white collar workers, are practicing pole dancing to keep fit.

"Daily training for an hour and a half over four days is generally enough to know how to execute a hand-based pole rotation. After three weeks or so, most novices can complete a basic three-minute pole dance set consisting of push-ups, the splits, chest exercises and hip rotations. So it doesn't take that long to learn," Meng explained.

Pole dancing is effective both for keeping fit and losing weight. A student of Meng's from Zhejiang Province in east China lost more than 10 kilograms after only three weeks of training.

Meng has a deeper understanding of pole dancing. "I think pole dancing has three levels. At the first, it's a kind of dance. At the second, it's a kind of art. At the third and highest level, it's a kind of sport," said she. "At present, pole dancing only stays at the dance level in China, but it has developed rapidly in foreign countries, displaying its sporting glamour."

The young woman, who believes in pole dance and has faith that Chinese people will someday recognize it for the sport and art it truly is, has tried every possible means to eliminate misconceptions about pole dancing.

"I teach pole dancing to get more and more people to improve their health. I also lead my team in various competitions to raise people's awareness that pole dancing is also a sporting event," she explained.

Meng has also worked hard to choreograph pole dance dramas to promote its artistic quality. 'Fairies on the Pole,' known as the world's first pole dance drama and choreographed by Meng, was put on stage by dancers of the China Pole Dance Team in Tianjin on May 17, 2013.

'Fairies on the Pole,' which made pole dancing more accessible to the public, was also performed in Australia, Britain and the United States.

Chinese people have begun to look at pole dancing with different eyes. Meng's studio has attracted more and more pole dancing fans from all over the country.

Wang Yingqun, a young woman from east China's Shandong Province, said pole dancing was her hobby, like if she had a strong crush on a person, while Meng's passion for pole dancing has become her profession.

"Many people say it's a happy thing to make our passions our professions, but sometimes it causes me pain, because the passion is not that simple anymore but should be regarded as a kind of responsibility," said Meng.

"As China's pole dancing is just starting out, there are still significant improvements to be made," she said.

As captain of the China Pole Dance Team, Meng led a seven-member team to participate in the 2014 World Dance Sport & Fitness Championship which took place in London from January 31 to February 2.

The China Pole Dance Team achieved good results. Sun Jian won the Best Performance Award for his performance 'Brave Heart' while Yan Xu and Liu Yan finished fifth and sixth respectively in the male singles category.

Fang Yi entered the finals of the female singles category and won the Best Singles Visual Performance for her performance '007.'

Meng and her partner Zhong Qianyue's 'Butterfly Lovers' also won the Best Doubles Visual Performance.

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