STORY: French expat in Shanghai: I love yoga and acupuncture
SHOOTING TIME: April 30, 2024
DATELINE: May 4, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:35
LOCATION: SHANGHAI, China
CATEGORY: CULTURE

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Tolza Simon
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): TOLZA SIMON, Yoga teacher, acupuncturist in Shanghai
3. various of Tolza Simon doing yoga
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): TOLZA SIMON, Yoga teacher, acupuncturist in Shanghai

STORYLINE:

French expat Tolza Simon, a yoga teacher in Shanghai, hopes to help people by doing what he is good at. He developed a great interest in China at a young age and came to study traditional Chinese medicine in Shanghai 10 years ago.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): TOLZA SIMON, Yoga teacher, acupuncturist in Shanghai
"My name is Simon. I'm living in Shanghai. I'm coming from France. I'm a yoga teacher, acupuncturist."
When I was a child, I don't know why, but I used to love characters, Chinese characters. When I have the choice to study Chinese in university, I just focus on Chinese and anthropology. It was a great opportunity for me, for visiting China and for learning the culture.
I like to do acupuncture, but not only acupuncture, it's Chinese medicine in general. Because I need to deepen my knowledge about Chinese medicine. It demands a lot of time. And the more you're studying it, the more you can see that this is very, very deep knowledge."

Benefitting from doing yoga himself, Simon wants to help more people by teaching it.

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): TOLZA SIMON, Yoga teacher, acupuncturist in Shanghai
"I'm a yoga teacher, so I'm giving a lot of classes in Shanghai. Why am I teaching yoga? Because it helps me a lot. I used to have and I still have spinal issues. But doing yoga gets me relief from all the pain I have in my body. Now I'm able to do all the stuff I like, handstand and stuff. So I love yoga and I just want to share it. Once again, like Chinese medicine, I think that if I can help people, then it's worth it."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Shanghai, China.
(XHTV)