Swimming, like jogging, may be considered a low cost sport or pastime in the US. It requires little gear and city pools, lakes, and beaches are accessible, low cost recreation areas. In China, swimming pools are costly to run and are often attached to higher end hotels and more expensive part of town. Like in India, lakes and rivers are rarely safe for swimming. Pools belong to gyms and the lifestyle of modern conveniences and luxuries. Therefore, going swimming is not a recreational activity for the average child. As an exclusive enrichment activity comes with its own set of costly gear, think hockey, figure skating, and skiing when you live in Southern states, so does swimming for the Chinese. That’s why swimming comes with its own sophisticated gear, ie., swimming cap, goggles, wetsuit type swimwear and more.
Image from Wikipedia.org
