City thriving on sporting culture

QINGDAO: Each day thousands of people swarm to Qingdao's Fushan Bay where around 400 sailors from all over the world are warming up for the 2008 Olympic sailing regatta.

The enthusiasm of spectators at the 2007 Qingdao International Sailing Regatta reflects their love of sailing, a popular aquatic activity in East China's burgeoning coastal city, and sports in general.

"The development of Qingdao's mass sports ranks among the best in the country, its competitive sports also lead the Shandong Province," deputy mayor of Qingdao Zang Aimin said.

"These achievements cannot do without the citizens' enthusiasm to take part."

Qingdao's achievements in popular sports have earned many laurels from the state, such as Home of Athletes, Football City and China's Model City for the Popularization of Sailing among Juveniles.

Qingdao has gone to great lengths to popularize sailing through a series of activities such as the Qingdao-Kiel sailing camp.

A campaign introducing sailing to schools was launched in May, 2007. Through this, local government called on companies to donate more than 1,000 sailing boats for teenagers.

By the time of the 2008 Olympic Games, 39 school and 100 junior sailing clubs will have been founded. The popularity of other sports is also soaring in Qingdao, where the number of mountaineering enthusiasts now exceeds a million.

The city also has more than 1,000 soccer clubs and amateur teams. More than 100 teams take part in the Mayor Cup Youth Football League, held since 1990, each year.

Qingdao also hosts an intercity sports meet every four years, the second session of which was held last month.

Comprising 34 events, it includes not only the traditional games of badminton, fishing and shuttlecock kicking but also newer sports such a electronic games, street dancing and rock climbing.

Since 2001, more than 1,000 sports exercise streets have been set up in the sports-mad city with funding from the sports lottery welfare fund, welfare lotteries fund and local companies.

Absorbing a large part of communities and villages, the streets now boast bodybuilding equipment for residents to use to get into shape.

Currently, an overall sports network exists among 72 sports organizations, more than 250 sports clubs and more than 3,000 sites for sports activities.

Players from Qingdao contributed a third of Shandong's total gold medals at the 10th National Games of China, where the province finished third overall.

(China Daily 08/14/2007 page24)