In 1987, the Ministry of Culture decided to hold a National New Bud Cup Acrobatic Competition. Participants in the competition were junior acrobats under the age of 17. This decision sparked a nationwide surge to train young acrobats.

The ministry sponsored the First National New Bud Cup Acrobatic Competition in Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province, on November 19, 1988. The competition attracted the participation of 175 teenagers, the oldest of whom was 17 and youngest six. A number of medallists at the competition soon moved onto the world stage and brought credit to China. For example, 16-year-old Xu Meihua won a gold medal for her Rolling with Cups of Water. Thereafter, Xu consistently improved her skills with the help of her teacher Li Yanyan and veteran acrobat Xia juhua. As a result, she performed the item in France in the l990s and won the President of the Republic of France Award for China.

The competition provided teenage acrobats an excellent opportunity to share skills. Some of the participants had traveled extensively and performed abroad, while others had never before left their hometowns. Three of four participants from Shanghai had made their debut appearances abroad and it was the first time for the 13 contestants from Shanxi Province to perform outside their home province. The competition left an indelible impression on the young participants and they all returned home with many happy recollections.

Experts attending the competition discussed approaches on how to train young acrobats. While China had established some circus schools prior to the competition, how to train performers and develop teaching materials remained an open question. Therefore, discussions between experts during the competition would prove to be of great significance.

The Second National New Bud Cup Acrobatic Competition held in Zunyi, Guizhou Province, and acrobatic competitions held nationwide in ensuing years provided good conditions enabling acrobats to learn and emulate each other, while at the same time adding new creations to repertoires and training young performers.

Some 120 new items had been created by the end of 1996, with more than 600 acrobats winning awards at home and over 400 acrobats winning gold medals in international competitions.