Events Changing Cities | Tonglu Xiangshan, Ouhai, Keqiao and other places are being transformed into equestrian events by the Hangzhou Asian Games | Center | Events
Tomorrow is the 100 day countdown to the Hangzhou Asian Games.
Recently, Asian Games venues across Zhejiang have begun to hold intensive test events, entering the final sprint stage of Asian Games preparation work. Recently, reporters visited 8 Asian Games venues in 6 cities and found that although the grand event has not yet opened, the impact of a large-scale event on a city is far more profound than imagined.
From scratch to something
On the evening of May 9th, 48 horses from countries and regions such as the Netherlands and Germany underwent 30 days of quarantine and entered the Tonglu Equestrian Center. They came to Tonglu to make their debut at the Tonglu Equestrian Open from May 13th to 14th, and to compete in multiple competitions with athletes from seven countries. This is also a test match before the Asian Games, to test the functionality of the venue, the scheduling of the organizers, and to seek more feedback and improvement opportunities. Before the Asian Games equestrian competition landed in Tonglu, Tonglu had little to do with equestrianism - as a water town in Jiangnan, there was no tradition of raising horses for horse racing, and horses were quite unfamiliar to the local people. Nowadays, in Yaolin Town, Tonglu County, everyone knows that a horse riding center has been built in the forest farm area, covering tens of thousands of square meters, which is particularly tall and upscale. The equestrian center is usually reserved and open to all citizens. The venue manager remembers that many people were a bit cautious when visiting for the first time: can this place really be visited? "It's quite mysterious to everyone," he said.
On the road leading to the Equestrian Center, signs of "no designated areas for equine diseases" occasionally appear. The so-called epidemic free zone refers to the requirement that there are no 19 species of diseases that are susceptible to infection by horses or other animals in the area.
The Tonglu Epidemic Free Zone is bounded by the Fuchun River in Tonglu County, covering the administrative area of Tonglu County north of the Fuchun River with a total area of about 1300 square kilometers. It is the second epidemic free zone in China after Guangzhou Conghua. After landing at Hangzhou Xiaoshan Airport, the participating horses will enter Tonglu through the horse transportation biosafety channel to ensure their absolute health. In addition to competition and training venues, the Equestrian Center has 240 high standard stables, which are also equipped with a stable village, a horse clinic, a feed warehouse, and a shoe factory next to the stables.
Tonglu Equestrian Center. Respondents provide pictures
Located by the seaside in Xiangshan County, Ningbo, the Asian Games hosted two events, namely sailing and beach volleyball. Speaking of Xiangshan, people in the Yangtze River Delta probably only remember seafood, and the future may be different - having breakfast at a hotel in Xiangshan, with cute sailboat shaped decorations on each table, and slogans like "Sailing Asian Games Dynamic Sand Pai" can be seen everywhere.
Similar to equestrian sports, sailing, windsurfing, and beach volleyball are generally considered niche sports in China, but the people of Xiangshan are becoming increasingly familiar with them. At Changzuitou in Songlan Mountain, the reporter went to the Ningbo Yafan Center, which is half sea and half land, and is the only venue among all Asian Games venues that involves sea construction. The launching ramp at the Yafan Center is the largest in Asia, with a width of 80 meters. "You see, there is a lighthouse at the green sea exit, which has now become our popular check-in spot. When the weather is good in summer, citizens take walks on the trail here, and the night view is particularly beautiful." The venue manager of Yafan Center pointed to the distance and said.
Night view of Yafan Center. Respondents provide pictures
Not far from Yafan Center, it is Ningbo Banbian Mountain Beach Volleyball Center. Cao Xun, Deputy Director of the Venue Operations Office, led reporters to grab a handful of sand on the venue floor and said, "It's very comfortable and precious." Indeed, even though the beach outside the venue is only a few steps away, all the sand inside the venue is transported from Wenchang, Hainan. The sand row competition has strict requirements for the size, color, particle size, and edges of the sand. The sand transported must be washed and polished with water, and the sand must be flipped and screened at regular intervals to ensure no mistakes during the official competition. At the end of April, the Sand Volleyball Center hosted the 2023 National Beach Volleyball Grand Slam tournament and also submitted a mock exam as a test match.
Beach Volleyball Center. Respondents provide pictures
Project popularization
In Malaysia, rattan ball is more like a traditional street sport, with a rope tied to two trees as a boundary, allowing teams on both sides to play against each other. In China, Tengqiu is a particularly niche sport.
To what extent is it niche? "In recent years, we have been conducting inspections everywhere in preparation for the Asian Games, and it feels like there are all the same group of people in the field of playing Tengqiu." Mao Renjie, the manager of the Jinhua Sports Center Gymnasium, admitted that this venue will host Tengqiu events for the Asian Games. Tengqiu is like some kind of acrobatic performance, which can kick a split leg serve, fly upside down spike, volley spin volley, and volley block. It has high technical difficulty and requires professional training to achieve. Since Jinhua was determined to host the rattan ball competition at the Asian Games, a series of rattan ball promotion activities have been carried out. For example, relying on Jiufeng Vocational School, the first local rattan team was established, training courses for rattan referees were held, and rattan ball performances were held on the streets. "But there is still a long way to go for large-scale popularization, because we need to consider the technical difficulty and commercial value," said Mao Renjie.
The reporter walked into the Jinhua Sports Center Gymnasium and did not see the shadow of Tengqiu. This looks like an ordinary gymnasium where you can play basketball, badminton, and a Zhejiang youth volleyball game is still in intense competition. "In fact, this is the future Tengqiu competition venue, which has undergone comprehensive upgrading and renovation and has passed the acceptance of the Asian Organizing Committee," Mao Renjie said. The venue lighting is more concentrated, with the addition of intelligent technology points system and access control, as well as bilingual broadcasting. When the game is over, lay the wicker ball mat and you can start playing immediately.
Jinhua Tengqiu Training Competition. Respondents provide pictures
Mao Renjie took out a wicker ball from the room next to the arena. It was small and connected with silver nails inside. The venue had already purchased hundreds of such game balls. The reporter kicked it with his foot, which had a different tactile sensation from shuttlecock and football. It was very hard and difficult to control the direction.
Shaoxing also undertakes several relatively niche sports, including baseball and rock climbing. At the Shaoxing Baseball Sports Culture Center, the reporter met with Zhou Zhong, the Secretary General of the venue operation team. Zhou Zhong admitted that baseball and softball are highly popular among teenagers in Japan and South Korea, but they are not yet mainstream in China. Therefore, taking advantage of the opportunity of the Asian Games, Shaoxing has launched a series of measures to bring baseball and softball into the campus, creating a "baseball and softball city" starting from childhood. At present, 32 schools have conducted baseball and softball training, especially the women's softball team from Qianqing Middle School, which won the championship at last year's Zhejiang Youth Championship. "The government provides financial support for the entry of baseball and softball into campuses. Pilot schools select and form baseball and softball teams, and hire full-time off campus coaches to provide professional guidance to students through the purchase of services. Our goal is to enter 100 schools for baseball and softball programs by 2025," said Zhou Zhong.
As a climbing competition venue for the Asian Games, the Yangshan Climbing Center in Keqiao District, Shaoxing City has also attracted many young people to visit after its completion, such as conducting micro group classes, listening to climbing knowledge popularization, and experiencing climbing sports courses. Based on the venue, last year we also held activities such as the Youth Climbing Invitational and Shaoxing Climbing Carnival, where over a hundred young athletes and climbing enthusiasts had an on-site experience.
Keqiao Yangshan Climbing Center. Respondents provide pictures
Dividend release
In Ouhai District, Wenzhou City, the Wenzhou Dragon Boat Sports Center is located. The water race track here is 1200 meters long and 130 meters wide, with a water depth of 3.5 meters during the race. It is a high standard dragon boat sports complex.
Before the landing of the Asian Games project, this was a newly relocated urban village plot in Louqiao Street. After the villagers moved and resettled, according to the plan, they prepared to excavate an 800 meter long river channel for ecological construction. Coincidentally, the Asian Games were selecting a site for the dragon boat project, which required a 1200 meter water track. Therefore, based on the renovation of the old city, Ouhai District adjusted the original planned waterway to perfectly meet the needs of the Asian Games project, and the dragon boat sports center was settled in this way.
Wenzhou Dragon Boat Sports Center. Photo by Wang Bin
This is also an unexpected dividend - after the project is implemented, the improvement of the surrounding environment has been put on the agenda. The Bantang Waterfront Pocket Park near the Asian Games venue in Ouhai District is a small waterfront amusement park transformed from idle land by the river. As a part of the Asian Games Dragon Boat Greenway, the two sections of the Pocket Park greenway allow for walking, jogging, and cycling, with complete infrastructure, making it a popular leisure destination for many nearby citizens. The supporting landscape project on the south bank facing the Dragon Boat Sports Center across the water has a large sunny lawn, which will become a shared green space in the city center after the Asian Games.
"In addition to our Dragon Boat Center, there are also Olympic Sports Center, athlete's apartment hotels, China Glass Town, Outlet Complex, etc. Our sports complex with dragon boat as the theme has a good connection with the surrounding commercial areas, and we will do overall block construction in the future," said Weng Dingbo, director of the venue operation office of the operation team.
In order to continuously unleash the dividends of the Asian Games, a large number of Asian Games venues have gradually achieved partial or complete opening for the benefit of the people since May last year.
The Shaoxing Baseball Sports and Culture Center has been open since July 8th last year. All sports at the physical training center are open for free on national statutory holidays such as the Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid Autumn Festival, and National Day. "The number of free opening days throughout the year has reached 23 days, fully leveraging the public welfare function of the Asian Games venues and promoting the development of national fitness." Zhou Zhong introduced. The Keqiao Yangshan Climbing Center has also been open for more than half a year. Many local enterprises in Shaoxing will organize team building here, and the venue is free. Enterprises need to hire professional coaches to guide them, and appointments are always fully booked.
Students are participating in activities at the Keqiao Yangshan Climbing Center. Respondents provide pictures
In order to make better use of this water area, Wenzhou Dragon Boat Sports Center has held two popular water competitions with the participation of citizens. One is the Wenzhou Wild Fishing Competition, and the other is the Water Flying Stone Invitational. "In fact, it's just playing water rafting. We invited 50 professional water flying stone athletes to ensure the viewing experience of the competition, and the remaining 100 spots were open to ordinary citizens for everyone to participate." Weng Dingbo said, "We hope to integrate national fitness into our dragon boat venue, and turn this project that everyone can play into a competition. Moreover, the fact has proven that the social feedback of these two competitions is very good."
Post match utilization
The Asian Games have not yet been held, but the direction of these venues after the Asian Games has been considered.
The most common way is to collaborate with national and local teams as training bases, while also hosting various related professional competitions. For example, in Deqing County, Huzhou City, a three player basketball tournament for the Asian Games will be held. The venue is currently in talks with relevant parties and will become a training base for the national three player basketball team after the Asian Games. Shen Guosong, Deputy Director of the Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports Bureau of Deqing County, told reporters that they have visited the sports training base of the three person national basketball team in Chongming, Shanghai, and made improvements to the basketball court in Deqing based on relevant hardware conditions. "The athletes of the Asian Games' three person basketball event do not live in Deqing, but travel back and forth from Hangzhou, so we currently do not have supporting facilities for athletes' food and accommodation. If we want to become a training base for the national team in the future, we need to solve the problem of food and accommodation, including the construction of a gym, therapy room, and conference room, which is also our future direction of transformation." Shen Guosong said frankly. In the future, the home court of Zhejiang Pulai Basketball Club may also be held in Deqing, and high-level events such as the Chinese Super League Three player Basketball and the FIBA Three player Basketball Challenge will also be held in Deqing.
Wenzhou Dragon Boat Sports Center also plans to undertake 1-2 professional competitions of high specifications every year, such as the Dragon Boat World Cup, the China Dragon Boat Competition, etc. But in addition, the Dragon Boat Sports Center also plans to rely on this venue to develop cultural and tourism, such as creating a number of water projects, such as personal skateboarding power surfing, water parks, etc. It can also take special dragon boat wedding photos. "The district government has decided to place the marriage registration center for civil affairs here, so that young people can take photos with this beautiful water area as the background after obtaining their marriage certificates," said Weng Dingbo.
Dragon boat races. Photo by Qi Jianhua
It is also a common idea to develop cultural tourism and related industries through the power of Asian Games venues. Kaiyuan Tourism Group is investing in the construction of a tourist resort in Yaolin Town, Tonglu County, with a total planned investment of about 2 billion yuan. At that time, Tonglu Equestrian Center will cooperate with it to attract traffic from each other. "We can organize competitions, training, and equestrian experiences here, and the hotels and leisure content of Kaiyuan Tourism Group can complement each other," said the venue manager of Tonglu Equestrian Center. In addition, the Equestrian Center can also carry out horse related transactions in the future. With the advantage of a no epidemic area, foreign customers can directly select and purchase horses in the competition, and can be transported away without quarantine.
Tonglu is still exploring other industries related to equestrianism, such as equestrian education. "At present, there are still relatively few professionals in China who train horses. We have inspected the construction of related majors in the School of Physical Education and International Equestrian Training at Wuhan Business School, and Hangzhou Business School at Zhejiang University of Business and Technology, hoping to learn some experience. After two or three years, when the time is ripe, we can apply for relevant majors to land in Tonglu." said Yuan Enhui, Director of the Economic Development Office of Yaolin Town. At present, Yaolin Town also hopes to attract some equestrian clubs to settle down. Therefore, Yaolin Town has allocated several construction sites for the selection of equestrian clubs. Once this road is completed, many of the training and competitions of the equestrian club can be held at the Tonglu Equestrian Center, and in the future, it may even achieve mutual recognition of international competition points. In addition, an equestrian equipment manufacturing company has opened a production line in Tonglu.
Tonglu Equestrian Center. Respondents provide pictures
The Yafan Center and Beach Volleyball Center in Xiangshan, located within the scenic area, will have a closer connection with tourism in the future. For example, Yafan Center is planning to establish a sailing club to provide relevant support for local entrepreneurs and high-end tourists. The Banbian Mountain Scenic Area, where the Shapai Center is located, is also undergoing new planning around the venue, and the surrounding homestays and inns will also develop together.
Yafan Center. Respondents provide pictures
Shaoxing will build a modern "Baseball Future Community" based on the 2.9 square kilometers near the Baseball Sports Culture Center, integrating future neighborhoods, future education, future health, future entrepreneurship, and other scenes. The surrounding warehouse style Sam's Supermarket, boarding style Longshan Academy, and five-star hotel First Tour South Garden are all under construction. An integrated vehicle road collaborative autonomous driving system will also be implemented around baseball and softball stadiums. In the future, the entire region will form a three-stage structure consisting of a northern residential community, a central public core area, and a southern waterfront community based on facility arrangements and land layout. Through the integration of various modes such as transportation facility orientation, education facility orientation, and sports facility orientation, it will create a "baseball vitality city and a future smart residential port".
