The 29-year-old Ran Guowei is one of a growing number of male practitioners of yoga in China, a sport largely thought to be exclusively for women in the country.

Recent photos of some of his yoga positions, shared on social media, have amazed many for the combination of strength, elegance and flexibility.

At his yoga studio in southwestern China's Chongqing, Ran, who has been practicing yoga for five years, adopts an extremely regular and routine life. He gets up at four in the morning, and does meditation and yoga practice for two hours. He finishes his class at 8:30 am. He goes to bed at nine. He also avoids heavy and oily food.

Ran is a sports enthusiast and used to jog, swim and hike a lot. But he later became attracted to the much more peaceful yoga and has since fallen in love with it.

"It leads me to a more healthy and disciplined lifestyle," he said.

"Then you will be full of energy and become positive about life," he added.