In addition to her Asian and world titles, Royal won gold at this year's World Games — a top competition for non-Olympic sports.

She has developed a healthy rivalry with fellow Chinese breaker Liu Qingyi, known as "671", who won bronze at the Paris Games.

The country's next generation of break dancers looks promising, with China winning five out of six medals at the youth world championships in August.

Inspiring creativity

"In four years, China has gone from being unknown in the world of break dancing to ranking among the world's top three, and is now seen as the future of breaking," Mounir Biba, a 13-time world champion and head coach of the Chinese team, told reporters.