China's Olympic hurdles hopeful Liu Xiang has got another side for many to be curious about other than his mysterious pull-out at the London Diamond League two weeks before the Olympic Games.

What does he eat everyday when preparing for the Olympics?

Liu had a typical lunch of vegetables, soup and meat, including eggplant, tomato soup and beef steak, on a normal training day when a reporter visited the former Olympic champion.

Chinese Olympians can only eat in their training centers, rather than eating outside in restaurants, for the concern that they may take in some stimulants by mistake.

In the three training centers in Shanghai Sports Institute, first-line athletes, like Liu Xiang, have two categories of common and special meals and the cost of one athlete's meal is about 80 yuan.