Shanghai leading the way with mini-sports program

People perform tai chi at Chen Yi Square in Shanghai on June 2 as part of the Shanghai Citizens Sports Meeting. The inaugural meeting will go through until November. Guo Changyao / Xinhua

Young people show off their skating skills on Nanjing Road in Shanghai during a Citizens Sports Meeting on June 2. Guo Changyao / Xinhua

The Jiuzi game attracts foreign tourists to join in during the on-going Shanghai Citizens Sports Meeting. Zhong Yang for China Daily

Workers in the city encouraged to improve fitness, Tang Zhe reports.

Liao Ying finished her lunch early. She has no extra work to catch up on. She just could not wait to take part in a mini-sports meeting being held in the lobby of her office building.

To motivate white-collar workers to improve their fitness, a series of mini-sports meetings, comprising games like mini-golf and boomerang throwing, have been taking place in Shanghai's Huangpu district since early June.

White-collar workers from 10 companies attended the first venture at Corporate Avenue near Shanghai's Xintiandi on June 11.

"The sports meeting is very much welcome among our staff, and our company organized four teams to play the games today," said Liao, the director of regional public affairs at Amway.

"Because of the limited places, we have organized heats within our company to select the most competitive staff members to play with the other companies.

"White-collar workers can suffer cervical and spine problems, but doing exercises and playing games can help that. Now, a lot of people are aware of the importance of sport, which is also an effective way to relieve pressure," Liao said.

The mini-sports meetings are a part of the inaugural Shanghai Citizens Sports Meeting - an event intended to help the populace get fit. The initiative, which will run through to November, will provide 2,399 games of 50 sports this year and be held every four years - corresponding with Olympic years.

It marks the first time a city has combined various fitness programs in a city-wide sports gala since China unveiled its National Fitness Program Outline in 1995 in a bid to promote greater public participation in sports.

After the Olympic Games, which is the world's premier international sporting event, the China National Games is regarded by Chinese as the most important all-round competition.

Shanghai, the hometown of Olympic champion hurdler Liu Xiang and Chinese basketball star Yao Ming, has made the physical well-being of its citizens a priority ahead of chasing athletic glory.

"We hope to wake up people's consciousness about the importance of doing sports; encourage them to join us and gradually make sport a main part of people's lifestyles in Shanghai through Citizens Sports Meetings," said Li Yuyi, director of Shanghai Administration of Sports.

"There is no conflict between the development of mass sport and competitive sport, instead, they are complementary," Li said. "The outstanding performances of Chinese athletes at the Olympic Games will attract more people, especially children, to fill arenas, and the prospering of mass sports will help enrich the talent reserves of competitive sports."

The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, where China claimed 51 gold medals to top the table, was not only a milestone for China's elite athletes, but also played a major role in luring more people into the mass sports program. The opening day of the 2008 Games, Aug 8, was named the country's Fitness Day in 2009, and an increasing number of healthy sporting activities have been held since then.

"More Chinese started to exercise voluntarily after the Beijing Olympics while governments and sports authorities paid more attention to mass sports, creating a growing sporting atmosphere," said Sheng Zhiguo, director of Sports for All Department under the China's General Administration of Sport.

According to Sheng, a third of the country's population regularly participates in sports nowadays, compared with 28.2 percent three years ago.

The overall fitness of Chinese appears to be improving as more than 88.9 percent of examinees passed the third national constitution monitoring past year - an increase of 1.7 percentage points from 2005.

Moreover, more than 1.1 million sports venues have been built around the country, more than 250,000 gyms have been set up in communities and the number of social sports instructors is now approaching 800,000.

To lure more elderly people to take part in outdoor exercises, the government of Shanghai's Huangpu district invested more than 7 million yuan ($1.1 million) in 2005 to build a greenfield called Jiuzi Park on the banks of Suzhou Creek.

The park, which has become a favorite site for locals, was named after a collection of "alley sports" called Jiuzi - nine different games whose names share the common suffix zi.

The sports were extremely popular in the streets and lanes of Shanghai in the 1950s and 1960s, and the completion of the park in 2006 has reinvigorated them.

Some elderly claim the less competitive and more fun games evoke their memories of childhood while also acting as a way for them to exercise.

Young people are also attracted to the games. Lu Yuanxiang, 23, is a regular visitor to the park. After practicing diabolo for more than four years, he has become a fine proponent of the traditional Chinese sport, which is similar to the yo-yo in Western countries.

Lu was born with cerebral palsy. He used to get sick frequently and often fell while walking. His father, Lu Min, said his son has changed a lot physically and mentally since playing diabolo.

"He was attracted by diabolo the first time he saw people playing it in 2006," Lu Min said. "He has played diabolo for more than four years and now he plays it at least three hours a day - just like going to work."

"Playing diabolo has changed him greatly. His body has become more healthy and he has less of a temper now," his father said.

The method

Getting people to exercise is not enough, it's just as important to promote the right ways to exercise.

Yu Jihong, national social sports instructor and promoter of tai chi and the body-building qigong, said a lot of people understand the importance of exercising, but lack knowledge about the proper methods, which could ultimately do more harm to their bodies.

"Most jobs nowadays require people to sit for long time in offices during workdays, some therefore choose to do intensive sports like soccer, running and hiking at weekends, but it could be harmful to their health because they do not have the physical strength, and the sudden increase in activity may hurt their muscles and the functions of their heart and lungs," Yu said at a long-distance race held in Beijing on June 10.

"It's just like you can't suddenly drive your car to the maximum of its capability, otherwise its components will be damaged. If you don't exercise regularly, your muscles become slack and your joints stiff. That is the main reason why people get injured when doing exercises."

According to Yu, some companies have started to teach their staff the correct ways to do sports. She advises people to do activities which suit their body-type.

"Many families merely take part in outdoor events. We invite them to join us so they can share the sporting experience with us," Yu said. "We are not asking everyone to finish a 5km run. Sport is not just about how far you swim or how high you climb you should do it in accordance with your own limitations.

"You must rest when you feel tired, but you have to start with a slow run to enhance the strength and endurance of your body," she said. "Doing regular exercise is very important -especially for young people."

Contact the writer at tangzhe@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 06/29/2012 page24)