"Tiger mother" became a buzz phrase last year for tough love and parenting in the United States but, in recent months, a Chinese "Eagle Dad" has sparked a new furore with his own brand of discipline.
Mr He Liesheng created a storm in February when a video of him making his four-year-old son run nearly naked in the snow while on holiday in New York went viral on the Internet, leading to talk as to whether he was teaching toughness or being abusive.
Recently, he encountered similar criticism in the media and on China's Twitter-like microblogs for forcing his son to sail a dinghy single-handed.
Some said his parenting style risked leaving lasting scars.
Last year, the book Battle Hymn Of The Tiger Mother by Chinese American Amy Chua similarly prompted furious debate about ultra-strict parenting.
Dr Chua has said she meant much of the book to be parody.
But Mr He, who comes from eastern China and has been branded "Eagle Dad" by the Chinese media, has said his extreme parenting is meant to prepare his son for the future.
"The big eagle pushes the young eagle off the cliff. As it falls, the little eagle has no choice but to spread its wings, and learns how to fly," he explained, quoting a Chinese proverb.
But Ms Jessica Ho, director of Against Child Abuse in Hong Kong, said the video made her feel uncomfortable.
"At his age these activities are not appropriate...From the clip, it is clear he is very scared," she said. "The father is very achievement-oriented and the psychological well-being of the child may have been overlooked.
"The father says he wants to push the boy to his limits and that if the boy is pushed off the cliff, he will fly - but if he hasn't yet grown wings, how can he?"
On Sina Weibo, one of China's hugely popular microblogs, indignation far outweighs support.
"This 'Eagle Dad' is clearly mentally unstable after a dark childhood. Poor little Duoduo," wrote MumaoXX.
In February, the Eagle Dad's video showed tiny He Yide - known as Duoduo - in his underpants doing push-ups, crying and begging his father to hug him in temperatures well below zero.
Now, Mr He is training Duoduo to sail, hoping the rough seas and natural elements of the ocean will strengthen his son.
"I think that after Duoduo has been through around half a year of this kind of training, he should have the ability to sail out into the open sea, with the coach nearby," he said as he watched the boy tack and gybe with obvious reluctance around a marina in the coastal city of Qingdao.
