Organisers report progress of venues for China's next National Games

The organisers of China’s 14th National Games have advised of positive progress on the development of new venues in Shaanxi province for the four-yearly event.

Scheduled for 2021 but with the Games' official schedule not yet been announced, the Xinhua news agency reports that despite brief delays due to the Coronavirus epidemic, construction and renovation of nine of the 53 venues were completed as of March.

Zhu Yu, Vice Director of the venue construction department of the 14th National Games organisiing committee, advised in a recent press conference that work on the rest of the venues has been accelerated.

In the provincial capital of Xi'an, the Xi'an Olympic Centre stadium, which will host the Games' opening ceremony and track and field competitions, 12,000 of track materials recently arrived from Italy on board the China-Europe freight train, with the track now being laid.

Zhu advised that the venues will feature local culture of the north western province of China, and will “create a smart, green tournament of humanity.”

The design of the new Yan'an University Gymnasium has been inspired by a Yaodong, a typical cave dwelling in the region, while water from the nearby Bahe River has been drawn around the Xi'an Olympic Centre to provide a natural touch.

According to Zhu, the Games will also benefit from a combination of railway, fast public transport and regular public transport to the venues.

The National Games of the People's Republic of China sometimes known as the All China Games or National Games is usually held once every four years.

Its most recent edition in August 2017 was held in Tianjin.

The forerunner of the Games was the Chinese National Games, first held in 1910 during the Qing dynasty. This tournament ran until 1948 and the competition was relaunched under its current name in 1959, following the formation of the People's Republic of China.

Images: Concept for the Xi'an Olympic Centre, where the 14th National Games opening and closing ceremony will be held (top) and plans for the Yan'an University Gymnasium, where the Games’ table tennis competition will be held. Images courtesy of Xinhua.