29-year-old Yang Xu has taken up a new hobby: seal carving (篆刻), and has been taking classes at a local night school. "I used (spend) my free time staring at my smartphone," Yang said. "Now, I spend one and a half (hour) at the seal cutting class every day, finding achievement and peace in it."
Night classes were very popular in the 1980s, when many young Chinese people were learning new skills to make living. Today, these classes are becoming popular again among young people, though they now serve the purpose enriching cultural needs.
The night art school Yang attends (set) up by the local government in 2016. For those are interested, the school provides twelve 90-minute classes at a cost of 500 yuan. On average,the price for each hour of class is (near) the same as a bubble tea.
Before the night school was opened, young people had trouble (find) classes in traditional art. Today, the night school provides all these classes at a reasonable price, taught by (celebrate) teachers and artists.
For many young people, night classes are an escape from the busy city life. "The stress in city creates a lot of worries," Yang said. "People need a place to rest (they) minds, and night art classes can be that one."
