Qingdao: a city of sailing

A yacht race in Qingdao.Zhou Guanghui

    QINGDAO has become a city of sailing since it hosted the Olympics Sailing Regatta in 2008.

    Every spring and summer, residents in Qingdao flock t

o the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center to watch sailing regattas of all kinds, including the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race and Volvo Ocean Race. The city holds the most international sailing races in Asia, according to Lin Zhiwei, chairman of the Qingdao Sports Organization.

    With its experience of hosting international sailing races, Qingdao has been holding its own races since 2008. These include the Mayor Cup Dalian-Qingdao Sailing Rally, the Qingdao International Sailing Race and the International Youth OP Sailboat Championship. An additional sailing event — the City Yacht Club Open Regatta — was recently launched to promote the development of sailing, Lin said.

    The city has also started to promote sailing among young people. Since 2006, the city has held a series of sailing activities for primary and middle schools. A total of 138 sailing schools and clubs for students have been established in recent years and more than 5,000 students have learned sailing skills from the Qingdao-Kiel Adolescent Sailing Club. The city has won an award from the China Sailing Federation for its achievements in promoting sailing among young students. Officials from the International Olympics Committee have also spoken highly of the sailing activities for young students in Qingdao.

    During Qingdao International Sailing Week, to be held later this month, the city will open the largest sailing training center in the world in an effort to attract top young sailing athletes from around the globe to visit the city.

    (Wang Yuanyuan, Zhao Di)