CITY GUIDE >Shops and Services
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CITY GUIDE >Shops and Services
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Rack 'n' roll
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-02-23 09:44
Some of China's best pool players will wield their sticks in Beijing next weekend in the nationwide Delta Cup. The hot shots are among a new breed of pool and snooker players who are transforming the barroom activity into a mainstream sport. The Chinese are no strangers to the billiard table and have been playing this old European game ever since the first tables appeared on the mainland more than 150 years ago. The game of billiards (a French word) evolved from a lawn game very similar to croquet that was popular in France. The game was moved indoors to a wooden table with a green cloth that was supposed to represent grass. The billiard table also had a simple border placed around its borders, which looked like river banks. The term "bank" is used today. Billiards was popular in Britain from about 1770 until the 1920s and in the 20th century, the simplier game of pool spread around the world. The sport was made even more popular by Hollywood, especially by the Paul Newman films, The Hustler and Color of Money. In the 1980s, snooker was a popular pastime at many of Beijing's markets, and when business was slow, the traders would grab their cue and "rack 'em up" on a makeshift table. Many Beijing social clubs had snooker or the smaller pool tables, but as bar culture in the capital began to grow over the past decade so did the number of tables. Young guns gathered in pool rooms to show off their trick shots while businessmen started doing deals around a pool table rather than a restaurant table. And the influx of young foreigners into the capital, also helped spur the pool craze. Chinese snooker ace Ding Junhui helped trigger the Beijing pool craze about two years ago when he won the silver medal in the UK Championships. Poolrooms in the capital began to bloom as locals, inspired by Ding's silky skills, discovered a different and more interactive way to spend their weekends. Today, there are pool tables everywhere in Beijing, and one of the most popular venues is the 821 Pool&Club, which hides above Coco Banana, which is near Gongti Xilu, the popular nightclub strip. |
