Chongqing - This summer, a growing number of young people in Chongqing are beating the heat by diving into a new kind of summer adventure. They head to malls, aquariums, and diving centers across the city to try their hand at freediving, mermaid diving, and scuba diving. Gliding through calm, blue waters, these aquatic enthusiasts are transforming the scorching summer into a refreshing and thrilling experience.

Zhang Xiaobai, a certified freediving and mermaid instructor and founder of Mermaid Palace Diving Club, has witnessed this surge in interest firsthand.

Zhang Xiaobai is a certified freediving and mermaid instructor and founder of Mermaid Palace Diving Club. (Photo: Zhang Xiaobai)

"Nowadays, people are becoming more financially comfortable," she said. "Common sports no longer satisfy them—they want to unlock that 71 percent of possibility in the ocean."

Her club now has over 1,000 students learning everything from foundational freediving and mermaid techniques to scuba and the emerging art of "water dance."

Freediving students are attending a theory class. (Photo:Deng Yan)

For many, diving offers more than an escape—it's a way to relieve stress and experience an underwater dopamine rush.

One of Zhang's students shared, "Many friends around me dive—mermaid, freediving, scuba, all kinds. They tell me that after unlocking the ocean, it's a whole different, more fascinating world."

Chongqing now offers multiple venues for certified divers, including public aquariums like Hanhai Ocean Park, Rongchuang Ocean World, Xingguang 68 Starry Ocean, and Haichang Ocean Park, as well as professional dive pools such as a 5-meter training pool and a 20-meter deep pool.

Freediving students are taking a practical course at a professional diving center. (Photo: Zhang Xiaobai)

"We have more and more venues now, and the diving industry is growing better and better," Zhang said. Looking ahead, she plans to actively promote water dance—a newer, less familiar form of underwater expression that she believes will make diving even more fun and accessible.

(Liu Yang and Zhang Yu, as interns, also contributed to the report)