Lingzhi Mi (13) said she had been a member of the Wuhan Acrobatic Troupe for seven years.
The acrobats practise for seven hours a day. Children were normally chosen at the age of 7 and training usually lasted for six years.
Mi said the challenging performance became easier after years of training but the strict diet, designed to keep her ''light and fit'', was as demanding now as on day one.
The 34 performers in the troupe, aged from 13 to 40, included two singers.
Tenor Dong Yanfeng said the troupe had visited 85 countries but this was its first visit to New Zealand.
The troupe hoped to see Larnach Castle, Moeraki Boulders and the Dunedin Chinese Garden before leaving the city for China tomorrow.
Dunedin Chinese Garden Trust chairman Malcolm Wong said three southern not-for-profit charities - the trust, Dunedin Chinese Scholar and Student Association and the Otago and Southland branch of the New Zealand Chinese Association - paid about $25,000 to enable the Wuhan Acrobatic and Cultural Troupe to perform at the Regent Theatre.
Any profit from the event would be given to charities to benefit the Chinese community in the South.
Nearly 900 tickets had been sold by yesterday afternoon, enough to make a profit from the event.
Wuhan and Christchurch are sister cities. The Wuhan Municipal Government brought the troupe over for a free, invitation-only show in Christchurch on Monday.
The southern charities negotiated for the Dunedin show tonight - the only public performance the troupe was giving in New Zealand.
