It s probably hard work. Chinese women are inherently tough. It was not long ago that all females in China had their toes bent under their soles and tied there for several years. Fashion decreed that women should walk in a particular way. Women were classed as inferior work horses until the Communists took power in 1946, when they were granted equal status with males.
Chinese women come from very hardy stock.
Next we have to look at China s peculiar system of reward for sporting achievement, where parents are rewarded as much as the individual athlete. The communist bloc system of early specialisation in sport still survives in semi-capitalist China. There are more than 500 specialist sports schools in the country where children are sent if they show aptitude for any sporting activity. Ma Jungren, Wang s coach, engaged in considerable leg-pulling of Western sports writers when he told them the elixir of success for his athletes was drinking turtle s blood. If we believe this is the secret of success, we ll believe the moon is made of Mars bars.