现在正值一年中最闷热的三伏天。

B | 出门5分钟，流汗2小时。

C | 坦白说，每到这个季节，我也曾有过同样的挣扎。    

    Acrobat Bing Bing backstage at a scenic spot in Beijing Photo: Courtesy of Bing BingAt an amusement park in Beijing, a young female clown tossed an apple into the air several times, catching it each time and taking bites out of it along the way. The seemingly simple routine delighted visitors, many of whom pulled out their phones to film it. Videos of the act have garnered more than 6 million likes on Douyin, China's version of TikTok.
Bing Bing, a young acrobat born in the 2000s, told the Global Times that she first tested the "tossing and eating an apple" routine through short videos before taking it to the stage. After her first performance, she spent the holidays performing it, adjusting the movements and pacing based on how audiences responded.
"Performance is the hardest thing to master. Your facial expressions and body movements have to convey to the audience what you are doing and what you want to do," she said. "The goal is to make them know that you are performing, yet still find it entertaining."
According to Bing Bing, the training behind such performances is far less glamorous than the finished act suggests. "Training is very repetitive. You fail, repeat, fail again, succeed and then fail again," she said. "Practice is what turns quantity into quality, even facial expressions and body movements require deliberate practice." 
For Bing Bing, however, mastering the routine is only one part of the job. Once performers step in front of an audience, the carefully rehearsed movements have to adapt to a live and unpredictable setting.
Beyond the theater
In recent years, acrobatic performances have increasingly moved into aquariums, theme parks and cultural tourism venues, where audiences themselves become part of the performance rather than simply watching from fixed seats.
Bing Bing previously performed alongside other clowns at an aquarium, inviting visitors to participate in the act. She said the difference is not merely a change of venue: performers have to constantly interact with the people in front of them.
"Traditional stages are farther away from the audience and are better suited to performances that people simply watch," she said. "Aquariums and theme parks, however, place greater emphasis on interaction and connection with the audience. Even with the same routine and interactions, you can often get unexpected results."
That interaction also changes how performers think about rhythm and presentation. A routine that works in a theater cannot necessarily be transferred unchanged to a tourist attraction, where audience reactions, distance and participation can all alter what happens on stage.
Sun Dawei, head of the Wuqiao Acrobatic School, told the Global Times that this shift is also changing the industry's approach to production.
"Acrobatics used to focus mainly on showcasing skills. Now there is greater emphasis on story-telling and emotional expression," he said. "Performances are no longer confined to theaters, but are increasingly staged as resident shows at cultural tourism venues."
According to Sun, a production usually begins with a theme, followed by the selection of appropriate skills. Performers then refine the routine repeatedly before adding music and stage design and going through multiple rehearsals.
"Traditional signature skills and core fundamentals must be preserved," he said. "Content that simply pursues danger or no longer fits contemporary aesthetics needs to be repackaged. Traditional skills should be given new forms of expression while retaining their roots and appealing to modern audiences."
For Bing Bing, this shift has also been made possible thanks to short-video platforms. Her apple routine gained its first wide exposure online before audiences encountered it in person.
"Short videos have helped more people learn about Chinese acrobatics and traditional culture, and encouraged more people to go to theaters and watch performances offline," she said. 
The growing visibility of acrobatics online, however, has raised another question: once traditional skills enter new venues and digital platforms, how can performers avoid simply repeating familiar formulas?
    Acrobat Liza performs an aerial acrobatics routine. Photo: Courtesy of LizaBreaking the formula
Russian aerial acrobat Liza, who has lived and worked in China for more than seven years and now performs regularly at Shanghai Qianguqing, a large-scale cultural tourism attraction featuring live performances, noted that the answer lies in how a show is constructed as a whole.
"A performance should start with an overall concept, and then you choose the props and music around it. Music itself can guide the choice of movements, provided the performer already has a solid technical foundation," Liza told the Global Times. "The transitions between movements have to be natural and smooth, like telling a story step by step. Costumes are also important because they complete the character. Everything needs to work together."
For Liza, technical difficulty should serve the performance rather than become the performance itself.
"Real professionalism means making the audience unable to see how hard you are working. Everything should look effortless," she said. "I value beauty and precision in movement. You should not make things more complicated simply to show off your skills. You should improve steadily as you grow as a performer, rather than constantly chasing greater difficulty."
She said that this is particularly important as increasingly extreme acts, including hair- and tooth-hanging, attract attention online.
"Most performers are following established templates, and I rarely see people creating something that is truly their own," Liza said. "You can find your own style and way of expression without taking excessive risks."
From an apple-tossing routine that drew more than 6 million likes to performances in aquariums and cultural tourism venues, traditional acrobatics is finding new ways to reach audiences. But bringing an old art back into the spotlight is not simply about making tricks harder or more spectacular. As Bing Bing's apple routine shows, sometimes it takes a familiar skill presented in an unfamiliar way to make a new generation stop and watch again.
。但跑了这么多年，我越发明白一个道理：三伏天跑步，比的不是谁狠，而是谁更“怂”。在这只想钻进空调屋的天气里，能坚持迈开腿，本身就是一种胜利。配速上“认怂”你有没有这种感觉？夏天一抬腿，心率就爆表，以前5分半配速稳如狗，现在6分半都感觉心脏要跳出来。别慌，这不是你体能崩了，而是身体在高温下的自然反应。高温高湿下，血液要分出一部分到皮肤去散热，供给肌肉的氧气自然就少了，你跑不动，实属正常。

D | 这时候，最需要做的就是在配速上“认怂”。主动把配速降下来，哪怕比平时慢1分钟甚至2分钟，只要心率控制在舒服区间，这就是一个完美的夏训。

E | 不看配速看心率，是夏季跑步的第一条黄金法则。三伏天的慢，不是弱，而是给心肺“降降温”，给身体“充充电”。稳住了，你就赢了。

F | 时间上“认怂”夏天跑步，不能硬刚太阳。早上5点半到7点，晚上7点以后，是夏季跑步的“黄金窗口”。

G | 别看只是早起了两小时，体感温度可能相差5到8度，这是完全不同的两个世界。如果在上午9点到下午5点之间出门，那就不是锻炼，是玩命。高温暴晒下，中暑、热射病的风险直线上升。

H | 5点起来，跑完步，洗好澡、吃完早餐，发现这一天才刚刚开始，那种富足感会让人上瘾。

I | 距离上“认怂”很多跑友有个执念：跑不到10公里，感觉像没跑。但在三伏天，这种想法得放一放。炎炎夏日，不要总想着跑长距离。把长距离适当缩短，或者降低强度，改为“少食多餐”的跑法，效果可能更好。

J | 比如你习惯夜跑10公里，可以拆成早晨4公里唤醒身体，晚上5公里释放压力。总跑量没少，但单次负荷降低了。别小看这种看似“偷懒”的调整，它能帮你扛过最难受的桑拿天。实在热得受不了，就学学那些聪明的老跑友：跑一跑，走一走而是不受伤、不厌跑，能跑得足够久。心态上“认怂”这是最高级的“怂”。翻开朋友圈，大神们好像完全不受季节影响，依旧4分配速狂奔，依旧每天半马打卡。再看看自己跑得气喘吁吁的狼狈样，是不是瞬间就焦虑了？这种心态上的焦虑，比高温更容易拖垮我们。三伏天跑步，最终要“认怂”的，是心态。

K | 我们要接受“慢下来”的现状，不需要和任何人比，更不需要和去年的自己较劲。天气不同，身体状态不同，数据根本没有可比性。这种心态上的“认怂”，不是放弃，而是与自己和解，不因季节的波动而陷入自我怀疑。写在最后等这个夏季过去，当秋风送爽时，你一定会发现，自己比以前进步了。

L | 到那时，你会感谢这个夏天愿意“认怂”的自己。因为这份“怂”，不是软弱，而是取舍的智慧，是细水长流的韧劲。身为普通跑者，我们跑步，不就为了每天乐呵呵吗？不就为了把一天的负能量跑掉吗？至于配速、距离这些数据，都不重要。放下对“数据”的执念，才能收获跑步真正的自由。