Enjoying the Culture 171a Ferrarri and Michael Schumacher became a household
name.
Martial arts are an intricate part of Chinese heritage. Some
youths still practise it today in martial arts schools. Every
morning in every park and living compound, troops of elderly
people will go out to practice tai chi.
Most young people in China enjoy badminton, ping
pong and bowling. Aside from karaoke, these are the most
common social activities that groups undertake. Some
companies even have ping pong tables set up on premises,
as well as ongoing tournaments.
Dragon boat racing teams are established in most cities
of China. It is both a recreational and competitive sport, and
there are national meets with serious competition during the
summer months.
China took the world by surprise in 2001 when Beijing
won the right to host the 2008 Summer Olympics. And she
certainly did not disappoint. The Games can well go down
in history for having the most memorable Games Opening
Ceremony, breathtaking world-class venuesand impeccable
organisation. There was also an impressive showing of
athletes’ achievements with more than 40 world and
over 130 Olympic records broken with an unprecedented
86 countries winning at least one medal. The Chinese
athletes won the most gold medals and bagged a total of
100 medals.
A tradition of northern China, horse riding is still more
of a recreational activity than a sport. That said, China does
have a national equestrian team which made its Olympic
debut at the 2008 Olympics.
A number of health-related sports are as common in China
as they are elsewhere in the world. Yoga studios have sprung
up in tier-one cities across China in the last five years. There
are a number of membership gyms in each city, which offer
cardio equipments and aerobics, kick boxing and weight
training classes.
Club sports have become popular. There are clubs for
volleyball, cycling, camping, hiking, running, go-karting,
sailing, skiing, off-road driving, scuba diving and rugby.