Tai Chi takes world stage as China marks first International Taijiquan Day

People practice Taijiquan, a kind of Chinese traditional martial arts, in Chenjiagou Village of Wenxian County, central China's Henan Province, March 19, 2026. (Xinhua/Ren Zhuoru)

By hosting 28 cultural and tourist activities for the First International Taijiquan Day, the city aims to promote Tai Chi-themed training while boosting health and wellness tourism, leveraging its scenic landscapes and rich tea culture.

China's Tai Chi was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2020. Better known in the West as Tai Chi, Taijiquan is the transliteration of the Chinese internal martial art with various styles.

Yang Zhenhe, a representative inheritor of the Yang-style Taijiquan, a national intangible cultural heritage, has spent years adapting the traditional martial art to make it accessible and suitable for young practitioners.

His daughter, Yang Lifen, has been dedicated to introducing the adapted 38-move Yang-style Taijiquan to schools in Handan, Hebei Province, the historic home of the martial art, where the routine has now become a mandatory part of physical education classes.

"The Yang-style Taijiquan covers boxing as well as weapon forms with the sword, spear and cudgel. Promoting this intangible cultural heritage is about passing it on, not just performing it," she said.