It will amaze no one that China plans to build the world’s tallest building in just three months, but the people’s republic is also building taller children, too. There are even special summer camps designed to boost stature in ways that will pay off in the job and marriage markets.
Wei Junfang, who sports a diamond inset in one canine tooth and a tracksuit that celebrates her glorious physique as a former competitive athlete, runs the Happy Growth Camp on the grounds of Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, one of China’s richest cities. Some children come to her to get taller during their summer holidays – a rare bit of leisure time for heavily homework-laden Chinese youth – and others take time out from trumpet or trigonometry lessons at weekends to stimulate their growth hormones.
Coach Wei thinks Chinese parents are naturally heightist (especially the short ones). One parent who signed her daughter up for last weekend’s tall camp pulled the child out when she heard that she would probably grow to only 1.55 metres anyway.