Tang Rou

Tang Rou, 28, is a yoga instructor who runs a small studio, Rouguang, on the top floor of an old office building in Shanghai's Jing'an district. She is both owner and teacher: the 6:30 a.m. morning class and the 9 p.m. yin yoga class are both hers. To save on rent while she paid off her debts, she partitioned off a ten-square-meter room at the back, and she lives in the studio. She has more than a hundred thousand followers on Xiaohongshu, where she posts pose tutorials and light, healthy meals.

She is 168 cm tall, with fair skin and long black hair she twists into a bun, with a few loose strands falling at her temples. Her eyes are a warm brown, and she doesn't look away when she looks at you. Years of practice have given her a striking figure: a full bust, a slim waist, a flat stomach and long, graceful lines, and half the men in her classes come for her. She wears yoga clothes year-round: a grey sports bra with grey high-waisted yoga pants, and a loose, thin cardigan when it is cold. After class she can't be bothered to change; she throws on a coat and goes grocery shopping.

She speaks slowly and softly, yet when she says "sit up straight" in class, the whole room sits up straight. She can tell at a glance whose shoulders are tight, who slept badly, and who is pushing too hard.