China's Sports Machine

Sports that are usually prominent in western culture can also be found in China, as the growing globalization of modern society inherently breaks down barriers. Even so, globalization typically doesn’t always change customs that are set in place.

It becomes apparent that Chinese culture has a notable overarching philosophy when it comes to sports, specifically through the eyes of the People’s Republic of China - from traditional primary schools to high schools, there is a major lack of athletic programs.

You would be hard-pressed to find traditional high schools that do have athletic programs because China has an entirely separate structure for adolescents that show some semblance of excellence in a sport. The People’s Republic of China puts a significant amount of time, effort, and resources into the recruitment, training, and molding of athletes from a young age.

As it is obviously recognized that sports provides health benefits for the mind, body, and soul - it is less about that in the grand scheme of affairs for China. The country is concerned with Soft Power and asserting its dominance through Olympic competition, which is what athletic prospects are recruited for. Sports serve as a significant source of national pride for China.

The Training

These athletes have an uphill battle to climb if they want to reach the international team.

The training is rigorous, long-winded, meticulous, and heavily criticized because of it.

Depending on the sport, children as young as 4-years old could be subject to around 10 hours of intensive training per day, six times a week.

Prospects are hand-picked by state-sponsored scouts that sift through thousands of candidates. The selected athletes then undergo intense physical testing to be considered for one of the sports academies in the country, of which there are over 3,000.

The training has been described as having similarities to the military, and the trainees are held accountable for their mistakes. Some common training exercises include press-ups, bench presses, and strenuous endurance training among other military-like exercises.

Olympic athlete scouts typically check for attributes like flexibility, balance, vision, strength, speed, stamina, reflexes, arm and leg length, and even mental fortitude along with demeanor. Potential olympic athletes can be tested at official gymnastics, volleyball, basketball, archery, table tennis, and weightlifting camps and are usually sent to these camps based on the specific attributes they possess and some tests have been outlined.

For example, archery candidates are tested by spreading their palms and holding a stack of .22 caliber bullets in a stack as tall as they can balance.

Showing how committed China is to obtaining Olympic glory goes even deeper, as the country recently announced that it would start utilizing DNA testing for scouting purposes, checking for predispositions and favorable physical attributes. Athletes also undergo bone and x-ray tests.

The stakes are high and the expectation is that participants will be locked in for the sake of their country; even though China has only won gold in one major team sport being volleyball, the country has the utmost pride in winning individual events and has dominated many of them for years.

Some common phrases you will see painted on the walls of the sports academies in China include "Be Positive, Work Hard, Climb the High Mountain, Win Glory for the Country," or "Today sport student, tomorrow Olympic star."

The system follows in the footsteps of the soviets, who also viewed sports as an avenue for Soft Communist Power, taking that opportunity very seriously.

The outlook for Chinese athletes

Because there are limited spots available, Olympic qualification is highly unlikely for most Chinese athletes, even though they are required to make personal sacrifices on their livelihood without ever truly understanding the gravity of it.

Former athletes have spoken about rarely seeing their families over the course of training and competition. It is reported that anywhere between 3,000 and 6,000 professional athletes a year retire, and around 40 percent of them have difficulty finding jobs.

China Sports Daily estimated in 2014 that 80 percent of China’s 800,000 retired athletes are faced with unemployment, poverty and chronic health problems. Children that don’t eventually make it to the Olympics are typically flushed out without a formal education, which creates a difficult road to travel in building wealth outside of the training they’ve endured.

It does look like China has started to consider this with the number of sports schools down over the past 30 years. There is more awareness around the implications of attending sports schools and parents seem to be pushing for the incorporation of traditional elements of education, which could help prevent athletes from falling so far behind after their sports careers, or lack thereof.

The Qingdao Sport School in Shandong and the Children’s sports school in the old Zhabei District has been described as “enlightened and modern”, having desirable room and board, coaches that value rest, and a faculty that cares about students getting into traditional academic universities.

What is the sports landscape outside of Olympic training?

China is full of recreational sport and physical activity, but the country sees recreational activity and sports as a major growth point that is highlighted in its five-year plan.

China wants to “create or expand 2,000 fitness venues” and to boost the worth of its sports industry to 5 trillion yuan by generating more involvement from its citizens, while increasing the visibility and accessibility of sporting events. The plan aims to make sport facilities and gymnasiums a 15-minute walk for everyone, to have two sports instructors for every 1,000 citizens, and to get 38.5% of the population regularly exercising.

Most notably, the plan recommends two hours of physical activity for all students, which could be a step towards more sports becoming available in traditional schools. Chinese regulators have recently put restrictions on excessive homework and private tutoring as well.

There are also initiatives like Project 119, which are government-led plans to increase the success of athletes in sports that China underperforms in.

Ever since the advent of The Sports Law of the People's Republic of China in 1995, the country has drafted many plans for improvements in sports infrastructure, Olympic athlete development, and even citizen health development.

For example, China has put a focus on ice and snow sports development programs, with goals on winter sports achievements and influence.

The emphasis on winter sports, and outside sports, is part of China’s wide-ranging five-year plan. China says that it wants to make the sports industry a pillar of its national economy.