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August 8, 2008
Posted: 1159 GMT
BEIJING, China - It is 9 a.m. in a park in the Beijing district of Xicheng. Despite the early hour, the temperature has already passed 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) and I'm breaking into a sweat by simply blinking.  It's relatively quiet, at least for Beijing standards - tonight the city ushers in the 2008 Olympic Games and it's as if everyone is resting indoors in anticipation of the momentous event. Suddenly, the stillness is broken by rhythmic chanting – at once familiar but also entirely intriguing. I turn the corner to see 10 elderly women in synchronized motion dancing to their own chants and wordplay. No, not tai chi or some form of ancient martial art - this is hip-hop, Chinese style, performed by none other than the affectionately named Hip-Hop Grannies. Wu Ying (Grandma Wu), the leader of the group, may be 70 but she could easily pass as 55. And it runs in the genes. Her daughter is 47 and I kid you not, looks 30. The group first began in 2004 after Grandma Wu saw the annual national hip-hop dance competition on TV. "It was so youth dominated," she recalls, perspiration dripping from her face. "How come there were no older people dancing?" So she began asking about to see if there was anyone interested in forming a hip-hop group, but initial efforts were grim. "My own daughter threatened to disown me. She said ‘I will lose face, so I will sever our relationship.' You must remember that at the time, hip-hop was considered something poor people or street people would perform," she says. "People would say ‘you go home and wake up.' Now it's a different story, now they admire me." Including her daughter, who actually joined the group in 2006 after she saw her mum's health improve and how popular she'd become. Grandma Wu choreographs the moves of the group, in which the average age is 59. "I don't plan anything too strenuous. I don't carry any injuries, but I'm too old to break dance ... I know my limits," she says. "As long as I can keep dancing until I can't move, I'll be happy." Posted by: CNN.com's David Challenger
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Receive updates from across the world on the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. "Olympics and the World" is a blog offering you the thoughts and observations from athletes, journalists around unique personalities preparing for the Olympics in China. Whether it's from the training field, the newsroom or the homes of everyday people, "Olympics and the World" provides you a global pulse as the Beijing Olympics approach. Special Report: Beijing 2008  Athletes
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