Gimme an O!

Chinese cheerleaders root for the home team. Time Out pays a visit to their training camp

A building in Sanhe City in Hebei province would be the dream home of many men. It is there that, since the middle of June, 400 of China's Olympic cheerleaders have been living and practising the moves that they will show off in events like basketball and beach volleyball this month. The Chinese cheerleaders will form the biggest ever Olympic cheerleading team – and while it may be easy to imagine their HQ as one big pyjama party, they're taking their role very seriously.

Sun Zheng, 21, who will perform in the beach volleyball events this month, says she trains three times a day for up to three hours each session, starting at 8.30am. "There’s no time to have fun," says Sun, whose training has forced her to miss classes in her university advertising course. "We're all just thinking about doing well at the Olympics, and everyone spurs each other on." Between events, Sun's team will perform a mix of classic cheerleading (in skimpy outfits) and more Chinese-style routines, using traditional fans and drums. During the beach volleyball games, she says the team will be cheering constantly for both sides. "We need to respect other countries and be good ambassadors," she says.

When we meet Sun, she has just finished a training session with the cheerleaders from the New England Patriots, the top team in the American NFL (American Football). "They're the best in the world and we've learned a lot from them," says Sun. "But we're doing things the Chinese way, and we're confident – we've got lots of style and big smiles." She does indeed have a lovely, beaming one.

Leah V, 20, is one of the Patriots’ cheerleaders, and is a typical rah-rah girl in that she is blonde, blue-eyed and doesn’t seem to stop smiling. She says she is very impressed with her Chinese counterparts: "The Chinese girls are so much better than we thought they’d be. They’re going to rock this August."