He held his hands high in the air as 10 women clutching guns circled him, marching to a patriotic tune. But Zheng Xiaoyan was sanguine as he stood outside a shopping mall in Beijing.

The guns were plastic and the 56-year-old has often played the role of a Japanese soldier, as the leader of this amateur dance troupe.

Despite the live band, well-honed choreography and ear-splitting volume, the gathering is a nightly occurrence rather than occasional gala performance. The subzero temperatures had whittled down the group, which in summertime can boast well over 100 participants.

"The colder the better. We won't get any illnesses; our immune systems have been boosted," insisted Zheng. "It's our duty to put on a show for people walking by."

China's amateur dance troupes – overwhelmingly female, and almost always retired or middle-aged – have colonised its parks, housing compounds and quasi-public spaces outside shopping malls. But their audiences are often reluctant thanks to their loud music and tinny amplifiers.

In recent months, bitter complaints have metamorphosed into action: from pupils protesting in a park because the group there was disturbing their studies, to direct attacks on performers.

In Chengdu, angry residents hurled water balloons. In Wuhan and Changsha, they threw faeces. And in November a Beijing man named only as Mr Shi stood trial for illegal possession of firearms, after firing a double-barrelled shotgun into the air to express his rage at dancers.

"I used to live next to the fifth ring road and felt it was too loud, so I moved to this compound for peace. I never thought it would be noisier," he told Chinese media.

While Zheng and other dancers stress the health benefits of dancing outside – even in China's smog-choked cities – they do not have much choice. There are few affordable or free indoor spaces in cities.

"Decades ago most people belonged to work units, and these units would provide them with public indoor activity rooms. Now, after the reform and opening, [those] have generally disappeared," said Jing Xiaofen, an urban sociologist at the Northwest Agriculture and Forestry Ministry.

People also have more time to pay attention to health and leisure and organise themselves rather than relying on official activities.

"Now we're facing the market transformation and things that can bring people together are very hard to find. Dancing in squares has become a way to connect those retirees," said Dai Jianzhong, of the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences.

"People in their 60s and 70s, like me didn't have the chance to experience cultural diversity, and singing and dancing turned out to be the only way to have fun."

For women, in particular, it is a chance to forge new bonds, said Xue Xinya, director of the faculty of sociology and social work at North-Western University.

"In the countryside you can chat with your neighbour. But in the city, dancing in the squares offers a platform for old ladies to make friends and escape their loneliness," she said.

Unfortunately, that development has clashed with another: people's growing sense of their rights and personal space.

While Zheng's group and others say they meet outside shopping centres so that they don't disturb residents, many dance in or near housing compounds.

"Older people have a basic need of entertainment, just as people need to eat and wear clothes. I understand that," said Ms Zhou, a Changsha resident in her late fifties.

"But your needs shouldn't be based on giving other people a hard time. If you want to dance in places where there are many residents, you should control your volume or find somewhere else. I think as a citizen I'm entitled to defend my legal rights and a good living environment."

After more than a year of noisy, fast-paced music outside her home each night, she asked police to step in. Now she is suing them for failing to intervene.

She tried asking the dancers nicely, she said, but "they didn't give a damn". "I told their leader very politely, 'I live with my mum and she is over 90. She's unwell and has heart problems. Could you keep your volume down or move to another place?' They were very rude and came towards me, surrounding me," she recounted.

Then? "Then," she said, "they just kept dancing."