Yu Ziyu (left), 20, and Meng Huan, 21, show their agility at a training session. [Photo by ZOU HONG/CHINA DAILY]

Five singles released

Unlike the three women with I.E.One Entertainment, who are just starting their training, the six boys in the pop group Boy Story have already built a fan base, not only in China but globally.

Produced by the K-pop label JYP Entertainment, its China subsidiary NCC Entertainment, and Tencent Music Entertainment, the Boy Story lineup is Jia Hanyu, 14; Li Zihao, 14; He Xinlong, 13; Yu Zeyu, 13; Gou Mingrui, 12; and Ren Shuyang, 11.

After two years of training in South Korea, they have released five singles since last year. One of their songs, Enough, which is hip-hop based, has received nearly 3 million views on YouTube since being released in September.

When they showed up at a house at a compound on the outskirts of Beijing recently, where they have lived and trained since September, the six displayed their dancing and singing skills and even performed somersaults.

"It's really frustrating when we cannot do the dance moves in unison, so we just keep practicing again and again," said Jia, the group's leader.

He was born and grew up in Zhumadian, Henan province, and stood out among hundreds of his peers when the companies launched auditions in his hometown.

"I like watching pop groups perform because it's really cool to dance like that. I want to dance like them," added Jia, a hip-hop music fan and winner of national street dance competitions.

Li, who comes from Tianjin, said: "We made our debut at the Hong Kong Coliseum in October last year, which was very exciting. We were close to the audience and we felt proud because we didn't make any mistakes onstage."

The youngsters are studying at an art school in Beijing, and after lessons they soon find themselves back in a classroom for singing and dancing training. This will continue if they are signed by a major label.

Si launched I.E.One Entertainment in August to focus solely on discovering, training and managing young Chinese idols. "Despite the intensive training and fierce competition, more and more young Chinese are becoming lianxisheng," he said.

It has long been Si's ambition to produce Chinese pop idols who go on to find worldwide fame.

He said that apart from the three young women, the company trains three men of similar age who will hopefully perform as a group.

"Some of the lianxisheng won't make it and some of them quit because the training is too harsh," Si said. "Only those who work hard and have real talent will stay and get the chance to become idols."

The 40-year-old Beijing native formed the idea to launch Chinese pop groups in 1996 after he became interested in K-pop.

" When I was 20, I had a girlfriend from South Korea. We often hung out around Beijing's Wudaokou area, which has lots of universities and foreign students," Si said. "I noticed that those students listened to K-pop and dressed like K-pop stars, and this inspired me. Chinese young people also love music. Why not have our own pop groups?"

From 1998 to 2008, Si worked in Beijing with one of South Korea's largest entertainment management agencies, S.M. Entertainment, and became involved in bringing K-pop stars to China, such as H.O.T and Baby V.O.X.