New Delhi: One thousand people aboard luxury cruise liner Superstar Virgo will practise yoga, meditation, breathing exercises, Vedic lifestyle and ayurveda on the seas off Communist China under the guidance of spiritual guru Ramdev for a week beginning June 1.

The goodwill spiritual mission, "Yoga on Sea", is significant as it comes ahead of External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's visit to China June 4, said a spokesperson for the Patanjali Yogpeeth and Divya Yog Mandir, two yoga and education trusts (ashrams) run by the seer.

The yoga cruise will take off from Hong Kong June 1 and touch Sanya City and Xiamen in China and Halong Bay in Vietnam. The trip, according to the seer who is an authority on Vedic yoga, ayurveda and Sanskrit grammar, will provide an opportunity to participants to understand the essence of life.

The followers of Swami Ramdev have congregated from across the globe. They will fly to Hong Kong on two chartered aircraft from the Indian capital.

Ramdev, born Ramkrishan Yadav in 1973 in Haryana, is known for popularising ancient Indian yoga and ayurveda therapy across the world and says they can cure even the most serious of ailments if done the right way.

He set up the Divya Yoga Mandir Trust, a yoga school-cum-therapy centre, in 1995 with Acharya Karamveer and Acharya Balkrishna. Since then, he has built several gurukuls in his native village and across the country.