District boosts sports, culture

Haicang has begun hosting sports tournaments and artistic performances, protecting cultural heritages and developing cultural industries to develop the district into a new cultural hub.

Haicang has hosted a number of events, including a dance contest involving college students from across the Taiwan Straits, a painting exhibition attended by famous painters from Taiwan and the Chinese mainland, and football games for the China National Youth Games.

To help protect ancient villages featuring the traditional culture of south Fujian province, the district plans to start a program to help villagers develop tourism. The villages will be used as guesthouses while the ancient culture is preserved.

The sports industry in Haicang is also progressing. Several sports events, including the Xiamen International Women's Golf Open, the China Fencing Championships, the Cross-Straits (Xiamen) Women's Half Marathon, and Xiamen International Martial Arts Competition, have been hosted by the district.

A number of cultural and sporting facilities in Haicang have been built in recent years and more residents are taking part in various cultural and sports activities.

For example, Haicang Sports Center, the site of men's football games for this year's China National Youth Games, occupies an area of 80,000 square meters and accommodates 18,000 spectators. According to the district, it is the most expensive and best-equipped district-level sports stadium in Fujian province.

wangxiaodong@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 09/01/2015 page7)