On the Road in China: In search of Yao Ming 

China's dominance of the podium at the 2008 Beijing Olympics was incredible, but it could just be the beginning.

A visit to the Shanghai University of Sport gave some insight into just how China has achieved such success in the stadiums, fields and pools of the world.

On the outskirts of the city, this amazing complex has six football fields (including two with the latest all-weather Astroturf), six basketball courts, a dozen tennis courts and a huge swimming pool.

There is also a large Kung Fu centre and an indoor track and field facility complete with a banked track that Athletics New Zealand could only dream about.

Students at this university can major in tennis, basketball, track and field, football, swimming, and Kung Fu just to name a few.

Upon graduation, they will be the next generation of coaches as the Chinese government continues its push to increase the amount of sport in schools and amongst the population in general.

The Shanghai facility was indeed impressive but it is just one of many as there are similar schools (and often more than one) in each and every one of China's 22 provinces.

Shanghai sport is on a real high right now as China's most famous sporting sons - NBA superstar Yao Ming and 2004 Olympics 110m hurdles gold medallist Liu Xiang - are both natives of the Paris of the East.

We watched a group of students practising their hurdles and the teacher kept urging them to "do it like Liu Xiang".

The teacher, a thin, wiry woman in her late 50s, was full of passion and energy as she led the students through a two hour session.

I told her later that it was obvious she loved her job.

"The students are great - they make it easy," she said.

Twenty-four-year-old Feng Yong Wei completed his sports degree in Shandong province and has come to Shanghai to do his Masters because "it is the best".

He is majoring in tennis and one day wants to have his own academy in this booming sport in China.

Typical of many alumni here, his parents have said they will support him in whatever career he decides to pursue.

This is quite a change from just a few years ago where anything other than commerce would have been frowned upon and illustrates that sport is now seen as a desirable career option.

The class I joined for the day played football, basketball and tennis, as well as a two hour track and field session.

Halfway through they stopped to take lunch together.

It all seems like a lot of fun, but there is a serious side to it all, as China continues to pursue aggressive medal targets for London in 2012 and Rio De Janiero in 2016.

They are competing against the rest of the world, but one suspects the red corner is not a bad place to be.

tvnz.co.nz's Michael Burgess is in China courtesy of the Asia New Zealand foundation and travelled there with Air New Zealand. He is aiming to investigate the impact and legacy of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and will be writing about the sights and sounds of China along the way.

Michael is in China for three weeks. Check out his archive of articles here