It’s all in the smile. That is the magic ingredient for thousands of girls auditioning for the chance to become a medal presenter at the Beijing Olympics in August.

Organisers lifted the curtain briefly yesterday on one aspect of the summer Games, many of which still remain shrouded in secrecy. They showed off one of the schools where young women were training to become one of only about 380 to carry the medals.

A group of 32 girls, mostly in their late teens, went through their paces.

To the strains of Enya, they stood in ranks in high heels, hands clasped left over right at the waist and smiles fixed on carefully made-up faces. The instructor issued orders: “Your smile must come from within and your eyes must light up.”

In unison, or almost, the reed-slen-der women paraded carefully to military-like orders from their teacher. A 45-degree bow was performed, followed by a lesser dip forward of 15 degrees while holding out a tray laden with two bottles of water and an English-language textbook. Any questions?

One girl, her voice soft and high-pitched to conform to Chinese ideals of femininity, asked for clearer instructions on the angle at which the tray should be held. The reply came with the utmost politeness: “You should hold it at exactly 90 degrees, parallel to the ground.”

The girls have been practising their deportment and manners for months and going through a ceremony rehearsal once a week. This is no guarantee that they will be among the chosen few.

Meng Jingya, or Annie, is 16. She is unlikely to be qualify since the age limit for medal presenters is between 18 and 25. She was undeterred. “This is a way for me to train myself in how to provide a service. And, as a Chinese, the most important thing I can do is to smile to show the world that ours is a land of etiquette.”

She described how one of her most challenging tasks was simply learning to smile. “We have to show between six and eight teeth. And we must be able to hold a chopstick horizontal like this.” She held up her hands at lip level to demonstrate the smile-training technique.

Miss Meng may be too young but she certainly meets other criteria, some of which have drawn international criticism for being discriminatory. She is 1.71m (5ft 6in) tall and thin as a rake. All the girls must measure between 1.68m and 1.72m in height.

Olympic officials declined to comment on the criteria for picking successful candidates.

Liu Wenjing, the vice-principal of the school, said that nine of its students had already been selected. “They’re all about 1.68m tall, good-looking and with good figures . . . up to the standards needed to take part in the ceremonies.” Male applicants will, apparently, not be considered.

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