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China's 15th National Games will open on Nov 9 across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, marking the first time three regions have co-hosted the country's premier multi-sport event.
With less than a week left before the 15th National Games kick off on Nov 9, thousands of athletes from across China have arrived in the Greater Bay Area.
As the games are being co-hosted by Guangdong province and the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, it is particularly tough for athletes from the northern region, which is experiencing lower temperatures, in some places even snowfall. Apart from the challenge of performing well, athletes from the northern region are also learning to adjust to the relatively higher temperatures in the south.
Thus, for many athletes, the overnight relocation from colder to warmer climes is one of the unique characteristics of the 15th National Games.
It is worth mentioning here that China is one of the few countries that organizes such a multi-sport event once every four years. Teams representing different provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities and industrial sectors fight it out for the honor of their sponsors.
The upcoming National Games will be a sports gala that attracts wide attention, in which 36,000 athletes are going to compete for 585 medal events in 57 sports categories. To get a perspective, the Paris Olympics held last year drew 10,500 athletes who competed in 329 medal events representing 32 sports categories.
Of the 57 sports categories in the contention during the National Games, 34 are very much similar to those contested in the Olympic Games. The rest are mostly traditional Chinese sports such as dragon boat racing, wushu (Chinese martial arts) and shuttlecock kicking. Another unique thing about these games is that before the opening ceremony in Guangzhou, more than 70 contestants would have already been awarded gold medals in various categories. This is because there are too many events and it is just not possible for the host city or region to organize them within the two weeks of the games. Therefore, some contests will be held prior to the opening ceremony.
Inaugurated in 1959, the National Games of China were designed to promote sports in China. Prior to 1959, modern competitive sports hardly existed in the country except in a few schools and universities. For two decades after that, the National Games were the highest level of sports events in China, which was then facing political, economic and cultural sanctions imposed by Western nations. When I was young, we boys talked about and idolized only the champions of the National Games, not because they were any superior but because we were totally ignorant about global sports events and global champs.
China's opening-up in the late 1970s as well as the popularity of TV sets introduced Chinese people to European Leagues and NBA games. The country's participation in the Olympic Games and the world championships further broadened fans' horizon regarding high-level competitive sports. As Chinese players began winning more medals at Olympic events, the National Games gradually began losing its luster for local sports fans.
In fact, there have been suggestions that the National Games should be cancelled because it costs a lot of resources while few fans are following it. They argue that many other countries don't have such a multi-sport event and are still doing alright. However, the growing scale of the National Games shows that the sports authorities have wisely ignored such suggestions.
China treats the National Games as an occasion to promote non-Olympic sports among the people. Being held a year after the Olympic Games, the National Games serve as a platform for hundreds of talents to fight it out and get enlisted in preparation for the next Olympics and other world championships. In fact, China's impressive performances in the global sports arena in the past decades should largely be attributed to the talent pool that emerges during the National Games.
What's more, the National Games are probably the only important national platform for athletes engaging in traditional Chinese sports to show off their skills. Without government encouragement and support, some of these sports may eventually disappear.
May the 15th National Games be a success!
The author is former deputy editor-in-chief of China Daily.
The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.
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Chinese Olympic gold medalist Quan Hongchan led the Guangdong women's diving team to a championship win at the National Games on Sunday night.
It was Quan's first return to the pool after having been absent from domestic and international competitions for 183 days due to injuries.
The Olympian and social media influencer earned waves of cheers and screams from the spectators on-site when she demonstrated her special water splash disappearance technique in the swimming pool.
Quan, who was paired with Wang Weiying, came in first in women's synchronized 10m platform, beating her former teammate Chen Yuxi, who was paired with Zhang Minjie, representing Shanghai.
The teenage diving prodigy will also compete the women's synchronized 10m platform, but she will be absent from women's 10m platform individual to avoid worsening her injures.
Quan, the county's youngest athlete to have won three Olympic gold medals, became a freshman of Guangzhou-based Jinan University in September.
She won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 when she made her major international competition debut at the age of 14.
Quan then defended her title in Paris Olympics in 2024 and won women's synchronized 10m platform alongside Chen Yuxi.
The National Games were jointly held by Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao.
China's upcoming 15th National Games marked a historic milestone on Sunday, with its first cross-boundary torch relay held with great fanfare simultaneously in four cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Following the relay launch ceremony in the southern coastal city of Shenzhen, Guangdong province, the torch for the quadrennial multisport event was carried by 200 torchbearers, 50 each in Shenzhen, the provincial capital Guangzhou, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macao SAR.
In another first, the "source flame "for the torch relay was obtained directly from the ocean floor. In early October, it was ignited using combustible ice collected from the Haima cold seep at a depth of 1,522 meters in the South China Sea.
Addressing the ceremony in Shenzhen, Governor of Guangdong Meng Fanli called the torch relay a brilliant interpretation of the Chinese sporting spirit and the Olympic spirit, and said it will undoubtedly gather tremendous momentum for advancing the cause of building a strong nation and promoting national rejuvenation.
The relay is a vivid demonstration of the institutional advantages of the "one country, two systems "policy and the achievements made in the construction of the Greater Bay Area, which will surely draw the world's attention more closely to Guangdong, to the GBA and to China, he said.
Li Jiayi, a Yueju Opera actress and winner of the Chinese Drama Plum Blossom Award, said she felt honored to be selected as a torchbearer for the Guangzhou leg of the relay. "We carry not only the flame for the National Games, but also the cultural fire passed down from generation to generation," she added.
Another torchbearer, Liu Pingyun, a professor at Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, said the relay showcased the region's history, culture and vitality, as torchbearers ran past landmarks in Guangzhou, including iconic buildings and scenic spots.
It also served as an opportunity to showcase the region's high-tech future, with Kuavo, the world's first 5G-A humanoid robot torchbearer, making its debut in Shenzhen.
In the Hong Kong SAR, acting chief executive Eric Chan Kwok-ki said the relay fully showcased the distinctive advantages of the Greater Bay Area, and highlighted the city's role as an international metropolis.
On Nov 9, representatives from the four cities will bring the torch flames to the Guangdong Olympic Sports Center in Guangzhou, and the flames will be merged into a single flame, which will then light the main cauldron at the opening ceremony of the games.
MACAO -- The torch relay for the Macao session of China's 15th National Games was held on Sunday morning, filling the city with festive energy and pride as the flame made its way through some of Macao's most iconic landmarks.
The relay began at the headquarters of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) government. Chief Executive Sam Hou-fai lit the first torch and handed it to Li Yi, who won the women's changquan gold medal for Macao at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023.
Covering a total distance of about 2.6 kilometers across the Macao Peninsula, the route passed several renowned landmarks and concluded at the Ruins of St. Paul's, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with a total of 50 torchbearers participating.
The final torchbearer Kuok Kin-hang, who won a bronze medal in the men's karate at the 14th National Games to become Macao's first-ever medalist at the Games, carried the flame up the steps in front of the Ruins of St. Paul's and lit the cauldron amid cheers.
"I feel very honored and happy to be the final torchbearer," he told Xinhua, adding that it can be an experience "remembered for a lifetime."
The torch relay for the 15th National Games was held simultaneously on Sunday in Hong Kong, Macao, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, marking the first cross-boundary torch relay in the history of the Games and the first time the torch has been carried in Hong Kong and Macao.
SHENZHEN -- China's National Games celebrated a milestone on Sunday as its first cross-boundary torch relay is held simultaneously in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, with one week before the Games opens.
Following the launch ceremony in the southern coastal city of Shenzhen, the torch relay started in Hong Kong, Macao, Guangzhou and Shenzhen - four key cities of the Greater Bay Area.
200 torchbearers from all walks of life will carry the flame, including physicist Xue Qikun and former Olympic diving champion Yang Jinghui.
The "source flame" was extracted and ignited from combustible ice lying more than 1,500 meters beneath the surface of the South China Sea in September.
Following the relay, the torch flames from the four cities will converge in Guangzhou later on Sunday, at Guangdong Olympic Sports Center to be merged into a single flame, which will light the main cauldron at the opening ceremony of the 15th National Games on November 9.
Volunteers from Guangdong province, Hong Kong, and Macao are joining forces to support the upcoming 15th National Games, an initiative that organizers say will deepen regional cooperation and youth exchange across the Greater Bay Area.
"The practice helps explore a collaborative development path for volunteer services in Guangdong," said Wang Hao, deputy director of major events and volunteer service department of the Games' Guangdong division organizing committee, during a press conference on Friday.
The Games, jointly hosted for the first time by Guangdong and the two special administrative regions, will open on Nov 9 in Guangzhou.
After a rigorous selection process, Guangdong has recruited 30,000 volunteers from 17 host cities and 99 universities, including 389 from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and overseas Chinese communities.
"Each volunteer must undergo systematic training and assessment to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to meet the event requirements before they can begin their service," said Wang.
To encourage public participation, volunteers from transportation hubs, shopping districts, tourist sites, and cultural squares will assist visitors throughout the Games. Sectors such as ride-hailing, food delivery, and courier services are also being encouraged to offer convenient and friendly support, Wang said.
In addition, 24 professional emergency teams from across the province have conducted drills to ensure safety and smooth operations during the event.
Volunteer enthusiasm is strong beyond Guangdong. In Hong Kong, more than 30,000 people have applied, marking the largest volunteer activity in the city's history. Since its launch in February 2023, the Macao division's program has drawn broad support from the public and social organizations, with 3,500 volunteers already serving in hotels and event venues.
To strengthen coordination, the three divisions have established a regular communication mechanism, shared training materials, and exchanged instructors. "We have launched a unified cultural identity for the volunteer service theme, shared training course materials, and exchanged training instructors for mutual learning and practice, consolidating efforts to collaboratively deliver outstanding volunteer services for the Games," said Wang.
