Editor's note Prof. Yang Xirang is a scholar who has been involved in exercise physiology in China for more than 50 years. Although he is over 70 years, his enthusiasm in developing exercise physiology in the Chinese community has never been diminished. In 2002, in conjunction with Prof. Frank Fu and Prof. Lin Jung Charng, he founded The Society of Chinese Scholars on Exercise Physiology and Fitness (SCSEPF) with members from Hong Kong, Taiwan, China and overseas. The mission of SCSEPF is committed exclusively to the advancement and improvement of exercise physiology and fitness. The present article reviews the development of exercise physiology in the new China for the last half century and is written with the assistance of Dr. Kong Zhaowei and Dr. Shi Qingde who represent the new generation of Chinese exercise physiologists and are responsible for picking up from Prof. Yang, the torch of advancement and improvement of exercise physiology not only in China but also in different parts of the world.