Scientists at China's General Sports Administration think the hoohah is critical to the physical needs of the world's most populous nation.

　　中国国家体育总局的科学家们认为，“呼哈”对于世界人口第一大国中国公众的身体需要至关重要。

　　“Chinese are facing more pressure than ever before and they need a way to release it,” says He Fengxiang, the director of the administration's 'Sports for All' division, after stubbing out a cigarette in his office. “They need the hoohah.”

　　国家体育总局群体司处长贺凤祥在自己办公室中熄灭了一根烟后说，中国人面临的压力比以往任何时候都要大，他们需要一个渠道来释放压力，他们需要“呼哈”。

　　Mr. He is referring to the vocal elements, or rather tribal-like chants, that he and other sports authorities have added to the 9th Edition of the People's Radio Calisthenics.

　　贺凤祥指的是类似部落居民发出的喊声。他和其他体育部门官员将这种“呼哈”声加入了第九套广播体操中。

　　This government-promoted 40-minute workout, full of kung-fu-type lunges and kicks, was established by Chairman Mao in 1951 to train China's proletariat in the fight against the capitalist West. And now, while still broadcast over the radio, the exercise has been overhauled to prepare the masses for the next stage of the fight -- a long, a healthy future in front of their computers.

　　广播体操是政府倡导的一种长40分钟的体育锻炼，其中充满了功夫式的突进和踢腿，最早在1951年由毛泽东设立，用来训练中国无产阶级应对与资本主义西方国家的作战。如今，广播体操仍旧在电台上播出，但进行了重大调整，以便使大众为下一个阶段的“作战”做好准备──在电脑前长期、健康的工作。

　　Sports administrators and scientists spent a full year analyzing the ways Chinese bodies changed since the 8th Edition was released in 1997 and formulating the best methods of combating what they found -- stiffer necks, tighter shoulders and bigger bellies.

　　体育管理者和科学家们花了整整一年的时间分析1997年第八套广播体操实施以来中国人身体上的变化，并制定了应对问题的最好方法。他们发现的问题包括颈肩僵硬、腹部肥胖。

　　Across the nation, students and work-unit employees who line up daily to practice these calisthenics are gearing up for the 9th Edition's special shoulder roll sequences, alluring lower back twists and powerful pectoral stretches necessary to equip them for exhausting days of sitting at a desk.

　　在中国，那些每天列队做广播体操的学生和工作单作人员将准备迎来第九套广播体操特别的转肩、诱人的扭腰和强有力的扩胸运动，这些对他们应对令人疲劳的伏案工作是必要的。

　　More squats have been added to activate the body's biggest muscles, the quadriceps, and increase the heart rate and burn calories. To calm jittery nerves, the 9th Edition's eight sets of exercises are led by a soft, comforting female voice that counts off numbers in Mandarin: “Yi, er, san, si.” Former versions were led by a militant-sounding male.

　　第九套广播体操增加了更多的下蹲运动，以便锻炼人体最大的肌肉群──股四头肌，并提高心率、消耗热量。为镇静不安的神经，第九套广播体操第八节是由一个嗓音轻柔舒缓的女声用普通话喊“一、二、三、四”。以前的广播体操则是由军人般的男声播音。

　　And then there's the so-called hoohah, which are repeating choral riffs of “Hoo! Hoohah!” written into the radio routine's soundtrack, a collision of symphony meets circus. They aim to inspire more grunting from China's ever-growing stressed-out modern workers, Mr. He said. And if grunting is too much, a repeating drumbeat encourages clapping for keyboard-strained hands.

　　之后就是所谓的“呼哈”，也就是广播中不断重复出现的“呼！哈！”和声，有点交响乐和杂技掺杂在一起的味道。贺凤祥说，这是为了帮助中国越来越疲惫的现代职场人士把更多的不满喊出来。如果不愿喊叫，重复的鼓点还使人们可以拍手放松因敲击键盘而僵硬的双手。

　　The hoohah chant will likely become a factor in calisthenics competitions held each year for state-owned and nonstate companies to ensure that everybody takes the exercise seriously. Enthusiasm sets winners apart from the others, as judges evaluate criteria like team slogan, formation and synchronicity during the competitions.

　　这种“呼哈”口号以后可能会成为每年面向国有和非国有企业举行的体操比赛的一个要素，目的是确保每个人在做操时都能认认真真。比赛时，评委会以团队口号、队形及动作调谐一致等标准来进行打分，而获胜团队的精神面貌让他们显得与众不同。

　　This past July, the staff at one Beijing branch of publicly traded restaurant Xiang E Qing, took third place in this year's nongovernment employee division of a Beijing tournament. Zhu Zhi Qiang, the restaurant's manager, decided last year to enter his employees in the competition after noticing they looked particularly uptight and tense. The routine was the perfect way to loosen them up, Mr. Zhu said.

　　今年7月，上市餐馆湘鄂情某北京分店的员工在今年北京市非公有制企业职工体操比赛中获得了三等奖。去年，该分店经理朱志强(音)发现，他的员工看起来特别焦躁和紧张，于是决定报名参加比赛。他说，每天做体操是让他们放松的绝佳方式。

　　To prepare his employees for the big day, Mr. Zhu hired a professional calisthenics teacher to lead them through intensive training in the 8th Edition.

　　为了让员工好好准备比赛，朱志强请来了专业的体操教练，对员工进行高强度的第八套广播体操的训练。

　　After a month of drilling lunges and arm raises into the dozen-plus waiters, the team faced off against 71 others, shouting out its slogan, “Serving Your Society; Devote Your Love; Showcase Yourself; Always Strive for Number One; Go! Go!”

　　这个由十几名服务员组成的团队进行了一个月的种种下蹲和举臂训练，然后在赛场上与另外71支队伍对决。他们大声喊出的口号是：服务社会、奉献爱心、秀出自己、争当第一，加油！

　　Facing off against so many others was actually very stressful, said thin, toned 26-year-old waiter Zhang Shengbing, holding up a glass trophy. Ultimately, he admits, it was worth it. “We wanted to fight for the pride of the company,” Mr. Zhang said. “We wanted the glory.”

　　身材瘦削、说话有点口音的26岁服务员张胜兵(音)高举一个玻璃奖杯说，面对这么多对手其实很有压力。他承认，付出的一切最终都是值得的。他说，我们希望为公司的荣誉而战，我们想获胜。

　　The team was, however, disappointed it didn't place first. “It was a little unfair,” Mr. Zhang said, explaining that the members of the winning teams were all professional calisthenics trainers by trade and most of them were exactly the same height, making them seem more in sync and uniform.

　　不过，湘鄂情代表队对于没能获一等奖感到失望。张胜兵说，有点不公平，其理由是获胜代表队的成员都是职业体操教练，他们的身高基本上一模一样，这使得他们的动作看起来更整齐划一。

　　“Their win was predestined,” Mr. Zhang said. He plans to compete next year and will no doubt give an enthusiastic hoohah. He'll begin practicing the 9th Edition in the fall. A number of state-owned companies, where employees tend to be more sedentary than Xiang E Qing's active waiters, declined to make representatives or employees available for this article.

　　张胜兵说，他们赢是一定的。他打算明年再参加比赛，届时一定完成一套充满激情的“呼哈”体操。他会在今年秋天开始练习第九套广播体操。一些国企拒绝让参赛代表或员工就本文接受采访，相比湘鄂情活跃的服务员，国企员工往往更习惯久坐不动。

　　Mr. Zhang isn't the only one feeling the pressure involved with calisthenics. Sports administrators who designed the 9th Edition feel the weight of leaders who expect this new regimen to solve the country's growing obesity problems. They are harried, sending out instructions to companies and schools.

　　张胜兵不是唯一一个对体操感到压力的人。设计第九套广播体操的体育部门的管理人员也感受到来自领导人的压力，这些领导希望这套新体操可解决中国日益严重的肥胖问题。他们苦恼不已，不断向公司和学校发出各种指令。

　　Officials also hope not to repeat the disaster of the 7th Edition, which caused an uproar when it was released in 1990. It incorporated disco steps that even John Travolta in his prime would have struggled with and the program was just too hard to follow. “It was a blow to the establishment,” said the Sports Administration's Mr. He.

　　此外，官员还希望不要重复第七套广播体操的不幸。这套体操在上世纪90年代发布时引起了鼓噪，它揉入了迪斯科舞步，估计就连处于巅峰状态的美国舞蹈演员约翰•特拉沃尔塔(John Travolta)都会为之抓狂，因为要跟上它太难了。体育总局的贺凤祥说，那套体操对于中国广播体操工作者来说是个打击。

　　For people who need additional instruction, the Sports Administration has made a special DVD and manual set of the 9th Edition, which is available for around $12 at bookstores.

　　对需要额外指导的人，国家体育总局特别制作了第九套广播体操DVD和手册，在书店约12美元就能买到。

　　So far, the 9th Edition looks more promising, but there are already critics. Hu Yuan, a 17-year-old high school student in Beijing, has been forced to practice calisthenics for the past 11 years and has never broken a sweat doing this routine.

　　目前为止，第九套广播体操的前景似乎不错，但现在已经有人提出了批评。北京17岁的高中生胡元（音）过去11年来一直被迫做广播体操，但做操的过程中却从未流过一滴汗。

　　The new version will be just as boring, the young Mr. Hu said. “It's just a show for the leaders, you know,” Mr. Hu said, adding that the calisthenics are so mind-numbing that he'd rather be studying physics.

　　年轻的胡元说，新广播体操还是会一样的单调。他说，这只是给领导们装样子而已，他还说广播体操太乏味了，他宁愿学物理。

　　When Mr. Hu was six years old and first joined his 4,000 classmates in the exercise, he actually thought it was exciting -- a coming of age experience. But after puberty and girls were factored in, the daily repetition of hearing the same exact broadcast changed Mr. Hu's mind.

　　当他六岁第一次和4,000名同学集体做操时，胡元实际上觉得很兴奋，这是一种成长经历。但随着青春期的到来，加上女生的因素，每天重复听同样一套广播体操改变了胡元的想法。

　　“Yes, we young men look our strongest when stretching out our arms and displaying our jazz hands,” Mr. Hu said sarcastically.

　　胡元讽刺地说，没错，我们年轻小伙子在伸展手臂和张开双手的时候看起来是最强壮的。

　　In Mr. Hu's last year in high school, calisthenics for seniors will be optional. The hoohah won't be a big enough attraction to draw him in.

　　等到胡元上高三，广播体操就不会是强制性的了。“呼哈”对他的吸引力应该没那么大。