Lululemon apologises amid Japanese drum row at Great Wall yoga event

Online uproar in China follows Canadian brand’s use of taiko drum at sponsored festival held to celebrate Chinese culture

The activewear brand Lululemon has apologised after a promotional event held on the Great Wall of China appeared to mistakenly feature a Japanese drum, prompting an uproar.

The Canadian-headquartered company, known for its upmarket yoga leggings, has been growing rapidly in China and arranged for a yoga festival to take place in late May on a section of the wall near Beijing.

More than 2,000 people were invited to take part in the event, which was advertised as promoting Chinese culture and wellness, according to the Chinese state-run tabloid Global Times , with the well-known Chinese actor Zhu Yilong was booked to perform.

Zhu joined a drum group on the Great Wall for what was described as a traditional Chinese drum performance and posted a picture of himself in front of one of the instruments, which had the Lululemon logo on it, on his account on Weibo, one of China’s largest social media platforms.

Weibo users accused the group of using a Japanese taiko instrument rather than a Chinese dagu drum. Many described this as inappropriate and insulting, according to the Global Times. Drum discussions had gathered more than 50m views on Weibo by Monday, and Zhu’s studio called on Lululemon to respond to the controversy.

The brand posted an apology to Zhu and the general public on Weibo on Tuesday, saying the event had been “intended to unwaveringly pay tribute to Chinese culture”.

It said: “Due to limitations in our professional knowledge, we were unable to identify potential controversies initially, and we fully recognise that we should be more cautious and thorough in the early planning and review process of the drum performances.”