BEIJING — A Chinese kindergarten principal has apologized after allowing a pole dancer to perform on the school’s opening day. Yes, you read that right. A Chinese kindergarten thought it was a good idea to have a scantily clad woman writhing around a pole in the school courtyard on Monday.

American writer Michael Standaert, who is based in the southern city of Shenzhen, was surprised, to say the least, when he and his wife took their children to the privately run Xinshahui kindergarten in the Bao’an district of Shenzhen on Monday.

Some little boys can be seen laughing and swinging around each other, while the little girls in red majorette-style outfits in the front appear frozen still. Several mothers can be seen hurriedly shooing their children away from the scene.

“Who would think this is a good idea?” Standaert asked above one of several videos he posted on Twitter.

“The principal hung up on my wife when she called after saying it was ‘international and good exercise’ . . . okay, yeah for adults maybe, but not 3- to 6-year-old kids,” he added.

There were also advertisements for a pole dancing school around the school courtyard, leading Standaert to wonder if the principal had accepted money in return for allowing the unusual display. He later said by email that he had not been able to confirm whether this was the case.

– Anna Fifield

Read More: First Day of Kindergarten? Chinese School Welcomes Kids with a Pole Dancer

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