Young people love sports. Shen-zhen, a young city, is sporty. There are more than 5,000 sports venues in Shenzhen. Sport has become a way of life here, and the cornerstone of the spirit of this young city.
Shenzhen ranks among the top cities in China in terms of the number of people engaged in sports, with more than 45 percent of the city’s adults par-ticipating in sporting activities three times a week or more. Shenzhen has a subtropical oceanic climate with moderate temperature and plenty of sunshine. The average tempera-ture in August, the hottest month in the city, is 28.2 degrees centigrade. The city receives 1,975 hours of sunshine annually.
The annual “Jogging Day,” which falls on Nov. 1, has become a fixture for residents all over the city since it was first launched 26 years ago when the city was established. A record number of 750,000 people jogged on the day in 2005, while the number was in 120,000 in 1996. November is the city’s Month for Sports.
England soccer megastar David Beck-ham is looking at setting up a soccer school in Shenzhen, saying in an email sent to the Shenzhen Municipal Sports Administration earlier this month that Shenzhen is a very good place to develop soccer, according to Ke Gangming, vice di-rector general of the administration. Shenzhen sees university sports booming in recent years.
Liang Qun, a young woman teacher in Shenzhen University, has successfully scaled Mount Qomolangma, and become China’s first woman of the Han nationality to suc-ceed in scaling the mountain.The Football Team of Shenzhen University, representing Chinese university students, participated in the football matches of the 23rd Universiade held in Turkey and won second place in the PanPacific Games. Two members in the Positioning Team of Shenzhen Universi-ty were picked by the national team to take part in the 2005 World Positioning Champi-onship in Osaka, Japan, on behalf of China. In 2004, the Martial Arts Team of Shenzhen University participated in the Hong Kong In-ternational Martial Arts Festival, pocketing seven gold medals, one silver medal, and one bronze medal. In 2005, the TKD (taekwondo) Team of Shenzhen University participated in the Asia College TKD Championship to win five gold medals, four silver medals and one bronze medal. Shenzhen is gearing up for the 26th Uni-versiade.
Shenzhen hopes to start a new up-surge in the development of college sports by hosting the 26th Universiade.