Surging popularity of Muay Thai in southwest China

KUNMING, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Wearing boxing gloves and shin guards, Wang Yuchen, a 9-year-old student from southwest China's Yunnan Province, repeatedly throws punches and kicks at boxing pads in his coach's hands.

Wang has been practicing Muay Thai, a kickboxing style that is known for strikes with fists, feet, elbows and knees, in a gym located in downtown Kunming, the provincial capital, for over a year.