City of Sails: Qingdao supports youth engagement in sailing

World
Europe

03:15

Qingdao has become THE city for sailboating since it hosted the 2008 Olympics. Taking more youth to the water is one of the many efforts by local government to promote the sport. CGTN's Cui Huiao reports.

Washing, assembling, and taking her boat to the water. For twelve-year-old Li Ziyue, it's another weekend of her favorite sport, sailing.

LI ZIYUE SAILOR "I started training two years ago. At that time I was a rookie. Now I'm one of the top sailors in my club. We have competitions every week. I totally enjoy sailing the ocean on my boat. It's super cool."

A semi-"veteran" sailor now, the learning process for Li was bitter-sweet. For example, how to keep balance and not fall off the boat was one of the many challenges. Li Shengjun, her father, has been watching Li sail since the very beginning.

LI SHENGJUN FATHER OF LI ZIYUE "It's been a very good exercise for my daughter. The summer training is tough, going from seven am to five pm, seven days a week. But she enjoys it a lot. She has become more courageous, knowing how to battle through tough conditions, like big waves or bad weather. She's also become more outgoing."

CUI HUI'AO QINGDAO, SHANDONG PROVINCE "To encourage more young people to become sailors, city authorities in 2006 launched a series of sailing events for primary and middle schoolers. Hundreds of sailing schools and clubs for students have also been established in recent years. Government support has helped Qingdao to become the Chinese city of sailing."

One of those sailing clubs in Qingdao is called Shanhaihui. Three years ago, Yan Zheng, a professional sailor from the Shandong provincial team chose to retire. He then set up Shanhaihui with several of his teammates.

YAN ZHENG HEAD COACH, SHANHAIHUI SAILING CLUB "When we first brought the sport to the west coast of Qingdao, we only had a few boats and five students. Now we have more than 20 students. We wanted to run it as a professional club. Thankfully our boats were subsidized by the Qingdao government. And now we have our own training ground."

Yan says sailing is a good sport for kids as it teaches them not only physical skills, but also independent thinking, like how to read wind directions, water flow, as well as your opponent. This is why he is a strong advocate of growing more youth participation in sailing across the country.

YAN ZHENG HEAD COACH, SHANHAIHUI SAILING CLUB "In countries like the UK, sailing is not just a sport for professional athletes, but mostly a hobby for ordinary people. Kids there start to learn sailing at the age of 10 and have their own boat. There is an entire development chain. In this regard, we have some catching up to do."

And the day we were there happened to be the birthday of one of Li Ziyue's club mates. Li says sailing has bonded her with a group of friends, who share the same passion for sailing. Cui Huiao, CGTN, Qingdao, Shandong Province.