A new body challenge has emerged in China following the popularity of previous contortion tests, with the latest relying on flexibility.
前陣子中國掀起了一股“反手摸肚臍”身體挑戰熱潮，現在新的身體柔韌挑戰項目又誕生了。

The 'reverse praying' trend sees users uploading photos of themselves to social media with their hands clasped in a 'prayer' position behind their backs.
在“反手祈禱”風潮中，參與者紛紛把自己雙手合十到背后作“祈禱”狀的照片上傳到社交媒體上。

It is the latest craze of its kind following the collarbone challenge in which Chinese women attempted to hold a stack of coins in their collarbone but only after 300 million people tried to touch their navels from around their backs - to showcase their slim physiques.
繼3億人參與的反手摸肚臍挑戰，以及鎖骨硬幣挑戰之后，中國女性又開始用這項最新挑戰來展示苗條身材。

The new physical challenge appeared on China's popular microblogging website Sina Weibo last week and like the belly button challenge, the new 'reverse praying' posture is about how flexible the body is.
上周，這項新的身體挑戰在中國的人氣微博網站新浪微博上發起。類似反手摸肚臍挑戰，新的“反手祈禱”姿勢考驗身體柔韌度。

Most of the participants have been young women who took the opportunity to show off their flexibility by holding their mobile phones between their palms.
大多數參加挑戰的都是年輕女性，她們通過“反手夾手機”來展現身體的柔韌度。

The true test of the reverse prayer is how close the fingertips are to the neck as the higher the hands are, the more flexible the body is shown to be.
反手祈禱要測的是手指離頸部的距離。手越舉越高，表明身體柔韌度越高。

One user even went as far as to make a chart demonstrating the success of a 'reverse prayer' with a 'goddess' seeing the fingertips reach the top of the neck.
一個用戶甚至用背影做了一張圖表來闡釋“反手祈禱”的成功程度，指尖能到達頸部的是“女神”。

The practice has been slammed by several users, some opposing setting a standard that many would be physically unable to match, leaving them feeling inferior, and others objecting to the term 'reverse praying'.
這一行為受到了一些用戶的抨擊，有人反對設定這樣一個很多人根本無法達到的身體標準，這讓她們覺得自己很差勁；還有人則反對使用“反手祈禱”一詞。

One online user posted on China Weibo: 'It is certainly irreverent and insulting to those to whom religion is a key part of their life. Those posting these images should be ashamed of themselves.'
一名網友在新浪微博上寫道：“對那些有著虔誠宗教信仰的人來說，這是一種不尊重甚至是羞辱。那些發照片的人應該感到羞愧。”

Vocabulary
contortion: 扭彎，柔身術

英文來源：每日郵報
譯者：1302張思曼
審校&編輯：劉明&許晶晶