Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sport and activities
2008 is of course China's Olympic year, and a passion for athletics has become
almost a patriotic duty. But the most visible forms of exercise are fairly timeless;
head to any public space in the morning and you'll see citizens going through all
sorts of martial arts routines, playing ping pong and street badminton, even
ballroom dancing. Sadly though, facilities for organized sport are fairly limited.
Spectator sports
The Chinese say they're good at “small”
ballgames, such as squash, badminton and of
course table tennis, at which they are world
champions, but admit room for improvement
in the “big” ballgames, such as football.
Nevertheless, Chinese men follow foreign
soccer avidly, particularly foreign teams with
Chinese players, such as (at the time of
writing) Manchester City. English, Spanish and
German league games are shown on CCTV5
and BTV. The standard of the domestic
football league is improving, and decent
wages have attracted a fair few foreign players
and coaches. In season (mid-March to
November) Shenhua, Shanghai's best team,
play every other Sunday at the Hongkou
Stadium in the north of the city (see p.96)
.
Tickets cost ¥15 and can be bought on the
day, either from the kiosk or from a tout.
In the southwest of the city, Shanghai
Stadium is one of China's largest, and is
mostly used for pop concerts, though it will
host some of the football games in the 2008
summer
Golf Club (
T
0512/57203888,
W
www
.shanghaiwest.com). The Lujiazui Golf Club
in Pudong (
www.lujiazui-golf
.com) has a driving range and organizes
competitions at city courses.
T
68871200,
W
Gyms and yoga
Most large hotels have gyms, with facilities
at the Westin and Pudong Shangri-La being
particularly impressive. Good private gyms
include Megafit in the basement of the Hong
Kong Plaza at 300 Huaihai Zhong Lu and
Total Fitness on the 5th floor at 819 Nanjing
Xi Lu, near Taixing Lu (
T
62553535).
Yo ga has taken off in a big way with the
smart set (though they wouldn't be seen
dead practising the similar homegrown
tradition of tai ji). The most fashionable yoga
i
studio is Yplus at 299 Fuxing Xi Lu, near
Huashan Lu (
T
63406161,
W
www.yplus.cn).
Swimming
Tr y the Olympic-size pool in the International
Gymnastic Centre at 777 Wuyi Lu (Mon-Fri
3.30-9.30pm, Sat & Sun 8.30am-9.30pm;
T
51083583) or the smaller Pudong Pool at
3669 Pudong Nan Lu (Mon-Fri 3.30-9pm,
Sat & Sun 9am-9pm;
Olympics; check the official
website (
W
en.beijing2008.cn) for tickets
and dates.
Shanghai has an impressive new Formula
One
track at Jiading, west of the city
58890101). For fun,
you can't beat the water park Dino Beach
(June-Sept; ¥150), with its slides and wave
machines, at 78 Xinzhen Lu, near Gudai Lu,
Qibao town (
T
(
www.icsh.sh.cn). Races are held there
every September; tickets start at ¥30.
W
Activities
64783333); take bus #763
from Xinzhuang subway stop, at the end of
line #1. Rather incongruously, there are
sometimes indie music gigs and rave parties
here (entrance fee is halved after 6pm).
T
Golf
There are plenty of courses outside the city;
the most prestigious is the Shanghai West
30
