At around 9 am most days, You Yijin puts on her swimsuit and a fish tail and plunges into the water at a training center for mermaid diving in Xiamen, Fujian province.

A professional instructor in mermaid diving, You spends the morning practicing underwater by herself. By 2 pm, her trainees arrive at the center near the sea.

After a warming up, the divers, mostly women, jump into the water to learn not only regular diving skills but also how to express the elegance of a mermaid.

You once worked at a State-owned company as a full-time human resources clerk until a few years ago when she earned her license as a diving coach while traveling overseas.

"I became extremely fond of diving and decided to make my life more wonderful with the new career," said You, who was born in the 1980s.