[Kristin Huang | South China Morning Post]
“I was only earning 2,000 yuan (US$300) a month as a construction worker, but working as a pole dancing coach, I could make several hundred yuan a day, so I gave up my job in construction.”
A former construction worker has become the first Chinese to win a major pole dancing competition after taking home first prize in the Elite Men category at Pole Art France 2017.
Sun Ying Zhi, 22, from southwest China’s Sichuan province, said he first became aware of the activity while browsing online.
“The job was so dull, then one day, I happened to see a video of a man pole dancing and was stunned by his strength and skill,” he was quoted as saying in a social media report by Chengdu Commercial Daily on Thursday.
Sun was just 16 at the time, but he was so impressed by what he saw that he erected a steel pole in his dormitory room and began practising.
He recorded what he was doing and sent his videos to talent agents in the hope of getting work as a pole dancer. After about six months his efforts paid off and he began getting paid work.
He also started entering competitions and soon after won a small local contest.
“After winning my first championship, some gyms asked me to work for them as a pole dancing coach,” he said.
“I was only earning 2,000 yuan (US$300) a month as a construction worker, but working as a pole dancing coach, I could make several hundred yuan a day, so I gave up my job in construction.”