Jennifer Isbister sent me a copy of Little Big Dreams, a Chinese documentary about young boys training at the (now infamous) Li Xiaoshuang Gymnastic School.
I’d seen clips from it on YouTube montages.
This particular boarding school is by far the most “infamous” in the western media because they keep inviting film crews. It seems to be featured in every Chinese gymnastics documentary.
… Every year, more than 100 children, aged between three and ten years old, come from all over China to the famous Li Xiaoshuang Gymnastic School to train to an incredible standard, even though some have yet to learn even how to tie their shoe laces. All of these children have left their hometowns to travel to a boarding school faraway to pursue the Olympic dream, which their families hope will lead them to fame and fortune. But only the very few will ever achieve the highest standard to become world-famous Olympic gymnasts, and they must sacrifice their childhood and family life to get there.
It’s a harsh life for these young boys. They train 330 days / year. Only 3hrs of regular school / day.
Out of 10 children, only 3 or 4 will make it to the Provincial Team by age 9 or 10.
Sport schools are becoming commercialized in China. Parents of first year students at Li Xiaoshuang must pay high fees once their child is accepted. The extended family and sometimes even the village contributes.
One coach in the movie uses a “cane”. That sounds shocking to me now. But when I was a student in Canada in the 1960s getting the “strap” on the hands was a regular part of discipline. I cannot even recall when corporal punishment was discontinued in my city.
related posts on Chinese sports schools
Once again, Stanford is almost everyone’s pick to win the Men’s NCAA Championships. 
Gymnastics Coaching.com 