Bright young things with stars in their eyes

Given a push by a couple of reality TV shows, the acting craft has come under the spotlight, and now it seems everyone wants to get in on the act

As snow falls in parts of China and temperatures plunge over great swathes of the country, when you consider the assessment it seems totally incongruous: "Spring has finally arrived."

But the man who utters those words - more than once - does so with a straight face, and unless he is putting on one of his best performances, seems convinced that what he says is true. For the actor Xu Zheng is talking about the rosy state in which his profession finds itself in China, and when you look at the evidence, it is compelling: spring does indeed seem to have arrived.

That reality is evidenced, fittingly enough, by the success over the past year of two reality shows in which acting skills and the travails of the actors have been center-stage. It was on one of these shows that Xu made his comment. The Sound and I am the Actor have presented to millions of viewers the youngest acting hopefuls - but already with huge fan bases - and those who have trodden the boards for many a year, as they compete in onstage acting or voice acting.