China’s child stars are shining. In a celebrity-obsessed society where talent shows are a national pastime, it’s not surprising that children and parents are getting into the act, as, indeed, they always have.

Children are getting a lot of attention in film, TV drama and sitcoms, as well as reality shows.

Stage training schools for children are booming, including Shanghai’s famous Little Stars Arts Troupe, which receives 10,000 applications a year. The four-year program covers a range of performing arts, including TV hosting, acting, singing and dancing.

One of the most popular new TV reality shows, “Dad, Where Are We Going?” which premiered on October 18 on Hunan Satellite TV, features celebrity fathers and their kindergarten-age children who go off to spend nights in remote villages.

They pick vegetables and buy groceries, dads prepare meals and do light housework. Mainly, they hang out together and chat in picturesque spots. It’s quality time with a busy dad.

The children are attractive, natural and talkative, some unable to hold back tears when they are asked to turn over their electronic tablets and toys before entering the village.

At international film festivals, child actors are increasingly in the spotlight. This year, 10-year-old Crystal Lee from Malaysia won the Best Actress award at the 16th Shanghai International Film Festival. She played a boxer’s daughter in the Hong Kong film “Unbeatable.”

Lee, the youngest actress to receive this award from the Shanghai festival, says she dreams of winning an Oscar.

For most child stars — typically endearing and unaffected — fame does not endure and only a few succeed as adult entertainers. They get older and bigger, their looks change, boys’ voices crack, girls develop curves. Quite a few lack talent.

The public’s criteria for child stars differs greatly from what they expect of adult actors.

“To be a successful kiddie actor, they just need to be cute and natural,” says Professor Gu Xiaoming, a sociologist at Fudan University. “But if they do not improve their true acting abilities, they may lose their audience appeal as the criteria change.”

Early fame is famously not good for most children, who may become spoiled and self-centered, with an unrealistic view about themselves and the world.

“It’s not easy for children to get used to their new theatrical identity and all the compliments showered on them. They may lose their way,” Gu says.

Many do not transition well.

Three years ago, a 7-year-old girl enthralled the audience with her dancing on a popular TV talent show.

She was called China’s Shirley Temple because she was very cute and her smile was very sweet.

Today she has put on weight, she’s no longer cute and she’s not on screen.

According to friends, the girl is very upset and keeps asking her father why people don’t love her anymore.

“Child celebrity is characterized by vanity and the easy loss of fame is a blow to that vanity,” says Xu Ziyan, a retired middle school teacher. “Pushy parents should be held responsible for the unhappiness and maladjustment of their celebrity children who lose their appeal.”

Many mothers and fathers are so eager for quick fame for their children (and themselves) that they are unaware of the cruel fact that the public’s attention span is so short.

Veteran psychologist Lin Yizhen says that some parents force their children into the industry just to make up for their own failed dreams. They should respect the children.

“A child star usually have less time playing with friends, while childhood companion and playtime are very important for a child’s growth,” she says. “Parents should pay more attention to their emotional health and demands.”

Lin also cites the example of Michael Jackson whose early fame led him to addiction and confused sexuality.

Many pre-school performing arts training centers are prospering in Shanghai, as are after-school classes.

The Little Star Arts Troupe has nurtured many stars such as Lu Yi, Hu Ge, Sun Li and Huang Shengyi who graduated from its four-year training program.

Zhang Jue, an official with the troupe, says every year more than 10,000 children apply. Only several hundred children finally make it after a series of tests. Many TV and film directors and event organizers turn to the troupe for child actors and entertainers.

Stage experience helps

“Most children in our troupe dream of being a star, but we tell them that not all of them can turn their dream into reality,” says Zhang.

Ten-year-old singer Cheng Zirui benefited greatly from his four-year training, according to his father Cheng Yaoyan, a teacher at Tongji University.

“My son has built a lot of self-confidence through stage performances,” Cheng says. “He is good at communicating and dealing with many unexpected situations. That’s uncommon for a child his age.”

The boy has performed at many TV galas and cooperated with British saxophonist Andrew Young in the song “Amazing Grace” in a Beijing performance. His new interpretation of English pop songs “Danny Boy” and “You Raise Me Up” has received a wide acclaim from the netizens.

“I want to grow stronger and become the first astronaut in the world who sings beautifully in space,” says young Cheng. “Singing on stage is wonderful experience for me. When I see audience immersed in my songs, I feel happy and proud.”

Many driven parents are very keen to “make” their children succeed, senior Cheng says.

Some withdraw their children from primary school and rent apartments in big cities for more performance opportunities. These people are often from rural areas.

That didn’t happen to Cheng’s son. He never falls behind in homework, though he returns late after training and shows, his father says. “He enjoys the stage but also dreams of becoming an astronaut. How can parents kill off all possibilities but one?”

Where are they now?

Xu Jiao

In 2008, Xu rose to fame playing a mischievous boy in the sci-fi film “CJ-7” by Hong Kong comedy actor and director Stephen Chow. The 11-year-old girl played the boy so well that she was named Best New Performer at the 28th Hong Kong Film Awards.

Earlier this year, Xu moved to the United States to attend high school and university, saying she would learn about Western culture, learn new skills and develop her talent.

She says that overseas education will help her prepare for an acting career in China. She could not rely on her childhood fame and had to develop all-round abilities, she says.

During vacations she plans to return to China and appear in new films and TV productions if the scripts are good.

Shi Xiaolong

Shi, 25, was one of the most famous child kung fu stars in Asia. A student of Shi Yongxin, current abbot of Shaolin temple, Shi Xiaolong started to learn kung fu as a toddler.

He appeared in films such as “Shaolin Popey” and “Super Mischieves.” He had dreamed of becoming an international kung fu star like Jackie Chan, but it didn’t work out.

In 2003 he left the entertainment industry and studied film in the US where he also studied acting, singing and dancing.

He returned to Chinese film and TV in 2009, but he didn’t want to be stereotyped as a martial arts character, so he took on other roles and attempted a singing career; unfortunately, none was successful.

Jin Ming

The 33-year-old star has been acting since she was nine years old and was one of China’s most famous child stars who shot to overnight fame through many of Taiwanese romance novelist Chiung Yao’s sensational TV dramas, such as “Wan Jun,” “Grass Beside the River” and “Xue Ke.”

Today, she’s a smokey-eyed actress appearing in spy thrillers and period dramas.

Jin was called “Little Wan Jun” after her film role as the namesake child bride.

She was so appealing that many pregnant women posted her photos on the wall and stared at them, hoping their babies would be as cute as Jin.

She attended Peking University’s School of International Studies, but unlike most classmates who enter the foreign service, she returned to film and television in 2009.