Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TEAM SPORTS
SPECTATOR SPORTS
The Chinese now have more leisure time than ever before, and many spectator sports have
seen large gains in attendance figures.
Basketball
is king here, though fans of Beijing
Guo'an
football
team may beg to differ. In addition, the Chinese excel at “small ball”
games such as
squash
,
badminton
,
snooker
and
table tennis
; tournaments - like snook-
er's
China Open
- take place all the time, but it's perhaps more interesting to see the cham-
pions of the future being coached at outdoor tables in places such as Ritan Park.
BASKETBALL
The
Beijing Ducks
are the capital's main basketball team; they compete in the CBA
(Chinese Basketball Academy) and won their first national title in 2011-12. They play at
the MasterCard Center (Wukesong subway, way out west on line 1), which also hosted
basketball games in the 2008 Olympics. In theory, it's possible to buy tickets online at
en.damai.cn
,
though these tend to sell out in a matter of minutes, usually ending up in the
hands of scalpers; you'll have to haggle them down to a good price (try
￥
50) outside the
stadium.
FOOTBALL
European football leagues have a surprisingly strong following, and English, Spanish and
German games are shown on CCTV5 and BTV. The domestic
Chinese Super League
is
improving, and decent wages have attracted a fair few foreign players and coaches, though
it continues to be rocked by match-fixing scandals.
In season (mid-March to mid-Oct),
Beijing Guo'an
football team is one of its hitters;
they play most of their games in the 66,000-capacity Workers' Stadium (Dongsishitiao sub-
way, line 2). Though this rarely fills up, poorly regulated ticket sales mean that it can be
hard to buy one yourself - many regulars, even those who go along every couple of weeks,
routinely buy their tickets just before kick-off from scalpers outside the stadium.
￥
50 is a
fair price, though you may have to wait until the game has actually started to get it down
to this level. Games with local rivals Tianjin Teda and title challengers Shanghai Shenhua
are the liveliest, but even at these, the atmosphere is relaxed, and there's no trouble; no
one sees the need to segregate fans, for example. Glamorous foreign teams often include
Beijing on their pre season warm-up tours, usually playing at the
National Stadium
(aka
Bird's Nest; ).
FOOTBALL
Club Football
clubfootball.com.cn
.
Year-round five-a-side competitions for men, women
and kids alike.
