In 1995, Lin Dan won the men's singles championship at the National Youth Competition, catching the attention of the People's Liberation Army badminton team. He was invited to try out for ten days, and shortly after, he received an admission notice. At just 12 years old, Lin Dan officially entered the military gate and became a soldier. Upon joining the PLA team, he was equipped with many new items, reportedly from the brand Kason, including clothing and rackets. Holding these new pieces of equipment, Lin Dan was overjoyed, as he had previously used only wooden rackets and had never experienced such high-quality gear. In addition to the professional equipment, he was issued his own military uniform. At the time, he was quite small, standing less than 1.4 meters tall. The military cap looked like a pot placed on his head, the belt remained loose even when fastened at the innermost hole, and his pants kept sliding down, causing everyone around to burst into laughter.
During his time there, professional badminton players were required to perform daily duties alongside the troops, such as morning exercises, standing guard, serving under the scorching sun for dozens of minutes, and responding to emergency night assemblies. Lin Dan experienced all of these drills. Beyond military training, they also shared meals and living quarters with the soldiers. While training in the PLA team, everyone often complained about the poor quality of the food and was picky about their meals. However, upon arriving at the military canteen, people looked around during meal times only to find little meat in the dishes. According to Lin Dan, the principle there was 'eating by the dish,' meaning one should eat more rice if there is little vegetable, and even if there are vegetables, one should eat them moderately. On one occasion, Lin Dan was having lunch with the company commander and the squad leader. There were only a few small salted fish in a plate. Lin Dan immediately picked up two and put them in his bowl to eat. Later, the squad leader questioned him: 'Do you know what "eating by the dish" means? The company commander was sitting right next to us!'
