The northeast Chinese city of Shenyang kicked off its summer sports gala with the largest youth football tournament in Asia.

A total of 308 teams, including over 5,000 young footballers and coaches from China and abroad, took part in the ninth edition of Peace Cup International Juvenile Football Tournament from August 12 to 18 in the capital of China's Liaoning Province.

Based on their ages, young footballers are ranged into 11 different groups from U6 to U16, in short for under-six and under-16 groups, according to the organizers.

U6-U12 groups are mainly campus football teams. Then to make the games more competitive and attractive, the organizers said the U10, U12, U14, and U16 would also include youth football teams.

The formats of different groups are varied in terms of competing time and the number of players. For example, five-a-side football games are 40 minutes long for players aged six-to-eight years old. U9 and U10 players will compete for 50 minutes in the eight-a-side format.

The unique football park

One of the most attractive factors of the tournament is the park, with the full name Shenyang Peace Cup Football Park.

Along the Hunhe River, the park is 3.3 kilometers long and covers a total area of 860,000 square meters,

The park features 40 international standard football pitches (including 23 pitches for 11-a-side football and 17 pitches for 7-a-side football). It was completed on August 5, 2016.

Approximately 1,000 matches will be played on the 40 pitches during the tournament. 

Youth football in Shenyang

Shenyang has witnessed a remarkable rise in youth football, which grows community-level "play-for-fun" games to become a symbol of cultural exchange via sports.

The Peace Cup event was founded in 2015 as a community football event for youngsters from around 30 teams, recalled Li Dong, president of Aomei Sports, one of the organizers of the event.

The Peace Cup has embraced its ninth edition and has included over 18,000 young footballers to date, the largest scale in Asia, Li said.

Communication via football is a priority, instead of game results, he added.

Writer: Chen Rong 

Videographer and editor: Zhao Yuxiang