Nanyang develops sports to increase resident fitness

The city of Nanyang in Central China's Henan province put emphasis on resident fitness and developed the sport spirit of the city last year. The city has achieved great results in resident health, competitive sports and sport facility construction.

Nanyang further completed the fitness public service system last year.

Both the municipal and county-level governments focused on resident fitness and included it into the national economy and social development plan, government work report, annual financial budget and the government's evaluation system.

The city completed the establishment of county-level, town-level and village-level sports administration networks and gradually launched sports associations in each village and community.

Nanyang received a total of 15 million yuan ($2.4 million) of the national and provincial project capital fund and invested 3.3 million yuan itself. The city completed 51 county-level and town-level fitness projects, 500 village-level rural resident fitness projects, 16 fitness paths, two demonstrative paths and two multifunction playgrounds.

The city completed fitness projects for 50 communities and 100 villages and outperformed the planned fitness path goal. The rural and urban stadium area per capita reached 1.61 square meters, which exceeded the average amount in Henan province and the nation.

The residents enjoyed a variety of fitness and sports events. Relying on the sports associations, the city held more than 300 such events last year.

The counties and districts created their own unique characteristics and launched a dozen featured events.

The events varied, including a scrambling motorcycle competition in Tongbai county, martial arts events in Sheqi county, fitness activities in Zhenping county, lion and dragon dances in Tanghe, basketball games in urban districts, sport tourism in Xixia and Neixiang county, sport recreation in Nanzhao county and fishing competitions in Wolong district.

In addition, the city arranged specific places for morning and evening exercises, launched report performances based on associations, and marketed sports star villages.

Moreover, the city cared about the fitness of elderly citizens.

Last year, a sports center specially designed for elderly residents was launched in the Nanyang Municipal Sports Center. The Nanyang Elderly People Sports Association also constructed parks for elderly residents in the central areas of the city.

The number of elderly residents who frequently took part in sports reached 800,000. The Nanyang Elderly People Sports Association has been once again selected as one of the advanced organizations of Henan province.

Nanyang also completed the citizen fitness and health monitoring project, which involved a total of 7,200 residents last year.

A total of 660 players from the city of Nanyang achieved great results at the 12th Henan Provincial Games and the first Public Fitness Competition.

The city also put emphasis on sports education and established a multi-level education network, which was led by sports colleges. The network was formed by nine spare-time sports colleges, 123 sports colleges based on traditional projects, and 31 youth sports clubs.

The entire system offered more than 20 sports training projects, including basketball, football, ping pong, track and field, and rowing classes. In addition, the city also further enhanced the sports faculty team.

The city of Nanyang established a high standard training foundation as a measure to store sports talents. The city's sports colleges continuously improved tutoring and training methods and further consolidated and promoted the construction of the national high-standard talent foundation from 2013 to 2016.

The city also established national high-standard talent pools for basketball and rowing, which greatly enhanced the city's retainment and cultivation of sports talent.

Wang Longkui, a canoeing player cultivated in Nanyang, has once again achieved great results at the 17th Incheon Asian Games. Wang won a bronze medal in the 1,000 meter canoeing game.

Every gym was open to the public in the city of Nanyang. In addition, the city also explored the best marketing operational methods.

As a pilot city whose gyms are open to the public for free, the municipal level and county level outdoor playgrounds are open to the public all day. Indoor gyms are open to the public for free for a limited number of hours or only charge lowered fees.

Furthermore, the gyms and playgrounds of colleges and high schools are gradually being opened to the neighborhood for free for limited hours.

Simultaneously, the city actively explored the new operational pattern of the gyms and playgrounds to meet the requirement of the marketplace.

The city of Nanyang has brought in and has held up to 30 major domestic and international competitions, such as the National Basketball League (NBL) games and the World Boxing Council (WBC) World Professional Boxing Championship.

In addition, the city has also held more than 20 large-scale opening ceremonies, artist programs and concerts, which included the seventh Henan provincial ethnic minority traditional sports festival. Furthermore, the city has held as many as 10 large-scale events, such as the 11th International Jade Culture Exposition.

The city also rented the unused stadiums and received a total of 3.1 million yuan last year.

Nanyang positively established a sports industrial demonstration foundation to make every effort to develop recreational sports.

Based on resources such as stadiums, culture and environment and setting characteristic and advanced sports projects as the main streams, the city supported and gave guidance to the construction of a provincial level sports industrial demonstration foundation, such as the Nanyang Sports Center and Lining Sports Park.

Whitewater rafting at the He River in Xixia and the hot spring at Lianhua has applied to participate in the 2014 China Sports Culture and Sports Tourism Exposition. The city has received more than 13 million yuan; launched three stadium projects; and has rebuilt, maintained and upgraded six stadiums.

The city enhanced the sports market management according to laws and restrictions to promote the industry's prosperity. In addition, Nanyang tried to provide premium service to the sports project approval.

The sales of sports lotteries grew to reach a record high. The city continuously publicized and promoted sports lotteries, increased the methods to play and sell the lottery, completed the network distributed channel, and upgraded the places selling the lottery.

The overall sales volume of sports lotteries reached 424.5 million yuan last year, which saw a growth of 110 million yuan and 41 percent growth. A sports lottery non-profit capital fund was established and has raised as much as 25 million yuan. The money will be invested in the sports industry.

As a result of exploring market operational pattern, the city successfully held a great number of national level and world level events, such as last year's National Basketball League (NBL) preseason games, WBC World Professional Boxing Championship, "Baide Cup" national roller skating ball game, and the 28th Olympic Day long distance running event.

In addition, the city successfully held last year's "Nanyang Ancient City Cup" water motorcycling game and the fourth China motorcycling game. Through holding high-end competitions and games, the city was able to create an atmosphere to focus on sports, support sports and participate in sports.

The efforts of the government have presented the characteristics of the city of Nanyang. They have diversified residential experience to enjoy the game. In addition, the efforts have exerted positive influence on the integrated development of sports, culture and tourism.