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LIU QUN RELUCTANTLY agrees to take five minutes out of his long day  at the China Acrobatic Circus Academy in Beijing.

The 15-year-old is in his fourth year of the school's rigid but highly sought-after seven-year circus training course - and there's nowhere else he'd rather be.

'I don't miss home,'' says the Harbin native. 'There are some kids here who I know  from my home town.'

He is lucky to have some familiar faces around, as hundreds of applicants  from all over China apply each year to fill  about 20 places; at any one time, there are some 120 acrobatic students at different stages of their training .

The school, in an industrial area on the outskirts of the capital, celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. It's also rated the best in the country - quite a reputation in a nation where scores of institutions have won accolades in domestic and international circus competitions.

'My parents wanted me to come here,' says Liu, an only child, whose family  recognised his gift for sports and elementary acrobatics when he was eight.

'They thought the facilities and teaching were better than elsewhere. My dad is really keen on acrobatics and wants me to do well.'

The academy, which falls under the umbrella of Beijing International Art School, recruits the cream of mainland teaching staff. All are retired performers.

Gu Yayu, from Heilongjiang province, has been teaching for 40 years, including  two  as a senior instructor at the China Acrobatic Circus.

Despite China's economic growth and increasing modernisation , she says there has been no let up in either public interest in circus performances or children's and parents' determination for youngsters to go through the long training process.

'The basic training is very hard,' she admits.

At 6.30am, after breakfast, all students spend   one hour  doing stretching exercises. Performance training takes place from 8am until  midday  and  again from 2.30pm to 5pm. Such is the schedule for four days a week. Two more days are spent studying academic and arts subjects.

The minimum starting age is six, says Gu. The seven-year course is split into two years of all-round training, then four in a specialised area and a final year internship with the circus troupe.

Depending on a performer's age, graduates may continue academic studies while performing with the troupe professionally.

The students, most aged between six and 16, roam around the tall-ceilinged teaching rooms, quietly going through focused balancing, juggling and floor and wall acrobatic exercises .

The ratio of female to male students is 60:40, a statistic Gu  explains with the fact that athletically-inclined boys  gravitate to martial arts in China, a predominantly male field.

The academy shares its training space with the China Acrobatic Circus, which has  60 performers. With major renovations and expansion already underway, this will  change before the 2008 Beijing Olympics .

Much of the renovation funding comes from the academy's success  in securing  foreign acrobatic students, who pay higher fees. There are 36 such students - from Vietnam, Russia and France.

Chinese graduates have found work with troupes abroad. Some of Gu's students have joined circuses in the US and Japan. Two of her female students recently qualified to represent China in the national circus competition troupe.

'I cannot see the attitude getting  any less serious in these modern times,' reiterates Gu. Across China, training will start focusing on a new national acrobatics competition, as yet unnamed, to be held every four years, she says. The inaugural event will take place in Guizhou in 2005.



School of high hopes