Dishes at Jerry Zheng's The Mixing House in Beijing. [Photo by Jiang Dong/China Daily]

It was hard for him to remember cocktail recipes, and even harder to master bartending movements with flair. However, the training he'd gotten in martial arts since young had made him accustomed to move his arms and hands firmly and with strength, and that helped him to learn to make cocktails with elegant but relaxed moves.

He got up early and started practicing at 7 am every day, two hours earlier than others.

He thought all the time about tips he'd been given to develop his skills, and practiced his set of movements much more than others in the class.

"I was not smart, so I worked hard," Zheng says.