CHINA-SPORTS-BODYBUILDING

In a photo taken on September 15, 2013, an amateur bodybuilder (R) prepares backstage prior to competing in a bodybuilding contest in Zhengzhou, Henan province. More than 20 professionals -- including a dozen from China -- were competing in the Bodybuilding Grand Prix in the central Chinese city for a top prize worth 80,000 yuan (13,000 USD). They were joined by scores of amateurs from across the country, in what event organisers said was a sign of the increasing popularity of muscle building in China. Bodybuilding has at least a century of history in China, but fell out of favor following the Communist revolution in 1949, when competitions were sometimes banned and the sport condemned as western and bourgeois. But it has since enjoyed a resurgence and competitors say the growing number of competitions are boosting the ranks of local professionals. AFP PHOTO / Ed Jones (Photo credit should read Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images)