The .Plan

…quickly.

[The] Chinese government has trained hundreds of thousands of official cheerleaders. Most are former state employees drafted out of retirement. They have been taught when to roar their approval and why not to boo other teams, especially those from onetime enemy countries. They will be assigned to events based partly on the decibel levels desired, organizers say…

Visitors to Beijing should not expect to see armies of Chinese 20-somethings in communist-red tights. The cheerleaders are more likely to look like a sorority of grandmothers, wearing matching T-shirts and equipped with props such as flags, handkerchiefs and “cheering sticks,” inflatable, oblong plastic balloons that generate thunderous applause.
–Maureen Fan, “Go, Teams! Learning The Drill In China”, Washington Post, April 6, 2008