The first International Day of Yoga today made big splash in China as thousands of Yoga enthusiasts took part in over a dozen cities of the Communist nation.

Embassy of India in Beijing and Consulates at Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong organised special events all over the country.

Ahead of the day, India along with the local government in Chengdu had organised a five-day international conference in Yoga which ended today.

Yoga is not new to China as it is widely practised all over the country especially by young people, but the International UN Day of Yoga has galvanised all the Yoga bodies to organise events to further popularise it.

The Chinese government too has given its nod for Yoga when Premier Li Keqiang attended Yoga-Tai Chi meet during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi here. China has also voted for June 21 as International Yoga Day by the United Nations.

The Yoga events were held in more than 14 cities of China including Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Qingdao, Hong Kong, Macau, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Kunming, Xiamen, Wuxi, Hangzhou, Wenzhou and Changzhou.

As many as 16 events took place in Beijing including at Peking University, Geely University, Hot Springs Leisure City and Chaoyang Park, an Embassy statement said.

Indian Ambassador to China Ashok K Kantha, started the celebrations for International Day of Yoga from the Peking University here. With the growing popularity of Yoga in China, he expressed confidence that it will become second home for Yoga.

More than 500 Yoga practitioners participated in the group Yoga demonstration at the inaugural ceremony which was attended by local government officials, diplomats, members of Indian community, media and academicians. The event was organised in partnership with Art of Living (China) which also conducted day long Yoga Workshops.

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