By Yin Yeping Source:Global Times Published: 2011-12-13 20:28:07
Since the 1960s children at Chinese junior and middle schools have been made to practice eye exercises daily with the hope to improve their vision. However, the average person's sight within China is currently deteriorating.
So do people think these exercises helped at all? Are they worth continuing? And how do people reflect on their time doing them?
Yin Yeping took to the streets to find out.
Connie Wang
28, media
Well, I did not have a lot of opportunity to do it since I was a student leader, which meant I had the privilege of supervising my peers doing it, rather than doing it myself.
Zhang Guangjun
25, media
I supervised the exercises back at school and still remember how some students would pretend they were doing it by putting their hands under their eyes while actually taking a nap. I also enjoyed the eye exercise time, since I could stare at the handsome guy in my class without him knowing!
Zhang Wei
22, student
I remember some boys in our class would make faces and snigger at girls who took it seriously. Our tutor said that the massage would beautify our face. But we weren't interested in that so much. Years later, despite doing these exercises, my sight got bad.
Liu Shaonan
27, foreign trade company
Eye exercises are one of the few things from my schooling that I still clearly remember today. Although I was not always a super good student, I tried to perform well during the eye exercises. Once the music started, I would concentrate on making every move perfect to impress my tutors.
Wang Ran
28, foreign company employee
Frankly speaking, eye exercises were always my time for a pleasant nap. I was always tired when I got to school and so the textbook reading and eye exercises were my ideal time to sleep.
Guo Zhiqiang
26, school teacher
I personally took eye exercises seriously throughout my educational career. Unlike some of my classmates, I never needed to be pushed to do so as I truly felt the benefits from doing it.
He Chao
19, student
We didn't really take the eye exercise very seriously. We were told to close our eyes, but we would always peep through the cracks between our fingers.
Ma Min
22, student
The background music was always impressive in my mind. When the music started, we children immediately got into characters without being asked by our tutors.
Zuo Lin
22, accountant
One thing I never quite understood was why I could not do these exercises while keeping my eyes open? Every time I closed my eyes I felt sleepy and I did not feel any comfort from pressing my face. So I would then rush to finish the exercises without doing them properly.