Sporting spirit of local people on display

As Chengdu has geared up for the FISU Games, the public fitness service system, centered around the Tianfu Greenway, has been improved.

According to data from the Chengdu sports bureau, there were a total of 64,100 sports venues in Chengdu by the end of 2022. The Tianfu Greenway has more than 1,700 sports facilities integrated into its completed network, which spans more than 5,000 km. A total of 6,000 public fitness activities were held throughout the year.

A representative from the Chengdu sports bureau said: "To satisfy residents' needs to exercise in their local areas, we will be constructing or renovating a number of sports parks this year. Additionally, we will create 50 sites for sports consumption, 100 community sports corners and 200 new fitness spaces along the Tianfu Greenway. These spaces will be developed using parklands, underutilized urban areas, and available edges and corners."

In the Kuan Alley community of Chengdu's Shaocheng subdistrict, there is a WePark community football park, which used to be an empty plot of land. To better cater to the exercise needs of residents, the local government has transformed it into a community sports corner. The equipment for this project was imported from the Netherlands and the park has been in operation since 2019, according to a staff member of the operating company. Local residents can access the park for free by scanning a QR code.

To ensure that residents can enjoy the benefits of the FISU Games, Chengdu introduced an initiative in 2021 that offers them free or discounted access to its venues. In 2022, the venues were open for a total of 76,300 hours, attracting more than 5 million visits with free or discounted access. Additionally, a total of 727 sports events were held.

In 2023, Chengdu will host a variety of branded fitness activities and sports events, utilizing parks, greenways, outdoor landscapes and sports venues. From March to May, there were over 400 sessions, drawing in more than 500,000 participants. Throughout the year, Chengdu plans to host over 4,600 fitness events for the public, which are expected to benefit more than 4.6 million people with free or affordable access to sports venues at all levels.

Influenced by the FISU Games and the increasing enthusiasm for sports, Chengdu is witnessing the emergence of unique and trendy sports activities. The city is also becoming a preferred destination for many sports brands to establish their theme stores.

In 2022, the Chengdu sports bureau published the results of a survey on public preferences for fitness infrastructure in Chengdu. The results indicated that running, badminton, swimming, fitness, table tennis, basketball, football and square dancing were the activities most favored by locals. It was found that 20 percent of those surveyed had engaged in emerging sports, with winter sports and water sports being the most popular among them.

Zhang Wenzhuo, a senior student at Sichuan Tourism University, has been skateboarding for six to seven years. He has noticed that in recent years, there has been an increasing number of skateboarding venues around him, as well as a growing community of people who enjoy skateboarding. Inspired by this trend, he started to offer skateboarding training classes in his hometown of Longquanyi district, Chengdu.

"The FISU Games has brought about subtle changes in the mindset of residents. Previously, some parents may have worried that allowing their children to skateboard would negatively affect their academic performance. However, there is now an increasing emphasis on encouraging children to alleviate the pressures of learning through sports," Zhang said.

He added that sports can improve physical fitness and foster a positive outlook on life. In addition, he hopes Chengdu hosting the FISU Games will help to promote a greater variety of sports among more residents.