Beijing, China, August 16, 2008 - The sessions at Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground are a blend of atmosphere and athletic competition featuring the best players on the plant along with a group of dancers called the "Beach Girls."

The "Beach Girls" are made up of 23 Chinese woman who were selected a year ago from 400 contestants from all over the Asian country along with seven professional dancers from Spain led by Vanessa Diaz.

Diaz was a member of the first group of dancers to perform at the Olympic Beach Volleyball competition at the Athens 2004 Summer Games.

"On our busiest days here, we performed over 45 times for more than 12 hours," Diaz said. "We take care of what we eat, we work out, we are aware that this is our job."

Argentina's Nadia Sarudiansky is the group's performance director and said the Chinese girls in the group managed to overcome shyness to perform in front of the crowd.

"At the beginning, it was a bit hard, but then they started to accept doing some hip moves and wearing bikinis," Sarudiansky said.

The culture of dancers at Beach Volleyball began during world tour events in 2002. For the Chinese girls though, this is their first experience as most of the dancers are students and only dance as a hobby.

This is the case for 2l-year-old Sun "Jenny" Zheng, who joined the Chinese team "La La Dui" (literally 'cheerleader' in Mandarin) last year to perform in national Basketball competitions and was thrilled to be invited to try out for a spot on the "Beach Girls" at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

"I was tested during one month and, after being accepted, we had lessons on how to behave in the Olympic Games and to always be friendly and smile," Zheng said.

During the competition, Zheng lives with many of the other "Beach Girls" inside the Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground.

"I felt shy the first time I had to wear a bikini, but then I understood it was part of the Beach Volleyball tradition," Zheng added. "I feel very proud, this is a dream come true to me, being a cheerleader is a unique chance, I love it. All the girls are very good friends and we take care of each other."