A new body challenge has emerged in China following the popularity of previous contortion¹ tests, with the latest relying on flexibility².

前阵子中国掀起了一股“反手摸肚脐”身体挑战热潮，现在新的身体柔韧挑战项目又诞生了。

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“反手祈祷”风潮中，参与者纷纷把自己双手合十到背后作“祈祷”状的照片上传到社交媒体上。

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.

继3亿人参与的反手摸肚脐挑战，以及锁骨硬币挑战之后，中国女性又开始用这项最新挑战来展示苗条身材。

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' posture³ is about how flexible the body is.

上周，这项新的身体挑战在中国的人气微博网站新浪微博上发起。类似反手摸肚脐挑战，新的“反手祈祷”姿势考验身体柔韧度。

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.

大多数参加挑战的都是年轻女性，她们通过“反手夹手机”来展现身体的柔韧度。

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.

反手祈祷要测的是手指离颈部的距离。手越举越高，表明身体柔韧度越高。

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.

一个用户甚至用背影做了一张图表来阐释“反手祈祷”的成功程度，指尖能到达颈部的是“女神”。

The practice has been slammed by several users, some opposing setting a standard that many would be physically⁴ unable to match, leaving them feeling inferior, and others objecting to the term 'reverse praying'.

这一行为受到了一些用户的抨击，有人反对设定这样一个很多人根本无法达到的身体标准，这让她们觉得自己很差劲；还有人则反对使用“反手祈祷”一词。

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.'

一名网友在新浪微博上写道：“对那些有着虔诚宗教信仰的人来说，这是一种不尊重甚至是羞辱。那些发照片的人应该感到羞愧。”