Chinese Olympic preparations are strictly ballroom

Contestants in Yan’an university’s ballroom dancing competition get some final messages of encouragement. Their gowns are rented or homemade. 'We are only students,' says Shi Tao Jao, in yellow Photograph: Jason Burke/Jason Burke

The dancing gets under way Photograph: Jason Burke/Jason Burke

Shi Tao Jao, 23, is studying international tourism management. She came second in last year's competition and wants first place this time. Ballroom dancing is 'good for meeting boys', she says Photograph: Jason Burke/Jason Burke

After the waltz come the group routines. The students, most barely out of their teens, are usually the first in their family to have received further education Photograph: Jason Burke/Jason Burke

Yan’an’s ballroom dancing club now boasts 400 members who meet three times a week. Similar competitions are being held across China Photograph: Jason Burke/Jason Burke

Yan’an’s sporting facilities are basic. Ahletes sleep in squalid dormitories and eat rice and vegetables in this hall three times a day Photograph: Jason Burke/Jason Burke

The new 20,000 seater stadium where the students - drawn from poor Yan'an families - train every afternoon Photograph: Jason Burke/Jason Burke

The young sprinter Lu Fan is realistic about his future. His father is a factory worker, his mother a housewife, and his ambition is to earn a living from sport. 'I'll worry about medals later,' he says Photograph: Jason Burke/Jason Burke

In the evening, the stadium is open to the public. 'As people get richer, they are more interested in sports,' says the Sports Institute director, a senior party official Photograph: Jason Burke/Jason Burke

Until a decade or so ago, Yan’an was a sleepy provincial town; now it is being transformed. But many can’t afford to use buses, let alone own cars Photograph: Jason Burke/Jason Burke

Mao Zedong ended his Long March and rebuilt the Chinese Communist party in Yan'an before successfully seizing power in 1949. Guides lead parties of soldiers, workers and students around key historical sites in the city Photograph: Jason Burke/Jason Burke

Wang Cui rolls out noodle pastry in her kitchen. She built her house in Zaho village with money from her daughters in Beijing Photograph: Jason Burke/Jason Burke

This farmer says he has three wishes: more money, better cigarettes and to see Beijing – in that order. He is determined to watch the Olympics on his television Photograph: Jason Burke/Jason Burke

Two hours drive south of Yan’an – halfway to the tourist centre of Xi’an – is what is said to be the highest bridge in Asia. ‘It makes us proud to be Chinese,’ said this woman and her husband Photograph: Jason Burke/Jason Burke