The many routes to success

'Fair lady class'

While their friends play video games or vacation in the tropics, some youngsters spend their days at what are called "fair lady classes".

At the China Handelin Wise Women Training School in Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, girls from 12 to 18 learn Western-style etiquette and the culture of a Chinese tea ceremomy.

EQ training

Impulse control, self-motivation and optimism - that's what children can learn in emotional intelligence training institutes now mushrooming in the big cities.

According to the trainers, the skills they impart will help children become successful, avoid depression and make them more assertive.

Guoxue

Guoxue, or the study of traditional Chinese philosophy, literature and history, has seen a resurgence in recent years.

Wearing Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) costumes, children recite ancient poems and play Chinese court music at a guoxue summer camp at Guozijian, ancient China's institute of higher learning.