So you want to be a Chinese gymnast?

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This is what it takes:

For gymnastics, the first task is to find the right kind of bodies, says veteran coach Yan Yongping, reeling off a list of essential criteria including deep chests, small buttocks and straight arms and legs. “We select the seedlings, build the foundations and deliver the talent” to provincial gymnastic and diving teams, acrobat troupes and military trainers, says Yan, adding that pupils must have “determination, no fear of death and an ability to ‘eat bitterness'”. […]

Yan and other staff at the Li Xiaoshuang school pride themselves on care of their wards, saying training for the youngest is essentially organised play and that physical punishment is banned. “Bottoms can be spanked… but that’s a kind of love,” says Yan. “It’s done very lightly, very lightly.”