Booming Popularity, Strong Momentum (Part 1)
Section 1: Sports Venues and Athletic Academies. Hunan's First Multi-functional Large Comprehensive Stadium — Hunan Provincial Stadium. Rebuilt and expanded in 2003 on the site of the former Dongfeng Square, it lies southwest of the junction of Tiyuguan Road and Dongfeng Road in Changsha, covering 87 mu. It is Hunan's first multi-functional large comprehensive stadium, including...
This article has been compiled from historical materials in the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com · City Overview section). Some administrative divisions, population, socioeconomic data, and policy information may be outdated and are for reference only; for the latest situation, please refer to official releases by the local government and scenic areas.
Section One
Sports Venues and Athletic Academies
Hunan's First Multi-Functional Large Comprehensive Stadium — Hunan Provincial Stadium
The Hunan Provincial Stadium was rebuilt and expanded in 2003 on the foundation of the former Dongfeng Square. It is located on the southwest side of the intersection of Tiyuguan Road and Dongfeng Road in Changsha, covering an area of 87 mu, and is Hunan Province's first multi-functional large comprehensive stadium. It includes standard grandstands, a track and field ground, a football field, tennis courts, gateball courts, and a nationally first-class standard extreme roller skating rink and other training grounds. Within the grounds are four 48-meter-tall lighthouse towers — the tallest in the province — an 18m × 14m internationally first-class electronic display screen, and 7,800 square meters of green belt. The standard grandstand has a building area of 10,000 square meters and can accommodate over 6,000 spectators. After reconstruction and expansion, the provincial stadium not only hosts major domestic and international competitions but also serves as the training base for the Hunan Provincial Track and Field Team. Its completion ended the history of the provincial track and field team having no standard training venue. At the same time, the Hunan Provincial Stadium is also open to the public, maximally meeting the needs of provincial capital citizens for fitness and recreational leisure.
Hunan's Largest Indoor Comprehensive Modern Sports Venue — He Long Gymnasium
He Long Gymnasium is located on Laodong West Road, Tianxin District, Changsha, and is Hunan's largest indoor comprehensive modern sports venue. The gymnasium was completed in November 1991 and has successfully hosted the "Asian Gymnastics Championships," the "National 9th Games Women's Weightlifting Preliminaries," the "Hunan Provincial Mass Sports Games," and various other sports events and large-scale cultural and sports activities. The main competition hall has an area of 1,800 square meters, with a height of 18 meters from the lower chord of the space frame to the ground; the practice hall has an area of 858 square meters and a height of 9 meters. The entire gymnasium uses large central heating and cooling air conditioning, full-color display electronic scoreboards, and sound equipment reaching 105db sound pressure, meeting the latest standard requirements. The gymnasium is equipped with IC telephones, fax, broadband network, closed-circuit television monitoring, and other modern equipment, and has a news center, doping control center, call room, VIP reception room, and other dedicated rooms with related facilities and equipment.
Hunan's First County-Level Single-Sport School — Hunan Anhua Badminton Sports School
Hunan Anhua Badminton Sports School was founded in 1973 and became a key single-sport school of Hunan Province in 1986, making it Hunan's first county-level single-sport school. In 1987, it was designated by the National Sports Commission as one of the four key badminton sports schools nationwide. In 1999 and 2004, it was successively named a Hunan Provincial High-Level Sports Reserve Talent Base by the Provincial Sports Bureau, and in 2005, it was named a National High-Level Sports Reserve Talent Base by the General Administration of Sport of China. Over more than 30 years, it has provided 55 outstanding badminton players to Hunan, Guizhou, Chongqing, and other provinces and municipalities. In May 2001, a reporter from the German weekly "Stern," which has 70 million readers, came specially to Anhua to conduct a feature interview with the badminton school.
Hunan's First Modern Martial Arts Academy — Hunan Provincial Chen Kui Martial Arts Academy
Hunan Provincial Chen Kui Martial Arts Academy was founded in 1993 by Chen Kui, located in Baishui Town, Qiyang County. It is the first modern martial arts academy integrating culture, martial arts, film and television, and art, cultivating high-level talents proficient in both civil and martial arts. It has now developed into two professional martial arts schools in Qiyang, Hunan, and Wudang Mountain, Hubei. In 1994, Chen Kui Martial Arts Academy ranked first in the province among 127 martial arts schools in Hunan and was rated as a provincial outstanding school and provincial A-level martial arts academy. In 1995, it was rated as a "National Outstanding Martial Arts Hall/School" and "National Outstanding Cultural Martial Arts Film and Television Academy." In 1996, it was rated as a "National Advanced Martial Arts Academy" by the National Sports Commission. In 2001, at the Hunan Sanda King Championship, Chen Kui Martial Arts Academy, relying on Wudang internal martial arts secret techniques, won the "Sanda King Grand Championship — King of Kings" in one fell swoop.
Hunan's First Private Martial Arts Hall After the Founding of New China — Dongfang Civil and Martial Arts Academy
To promote Chinese martial arts, Master Yan Xizheng took the lead in founding Hunan's first private martial arts hall after the founding of New China — the Xingwu Boxing Society — in Xinhua County in 1982, which later developed into the Dongfang Civil and Martial Arts Academy, where he serves as principal and head coach. He advocates "Learn virtue before learning martial arts; practice patience when practicing skills," emphasizing the cultivation of students' patriotic sentiments and fine moral character. The teaching results are remarkable; the over 80,000 graduates he has trained have become elites on all fronts of the motherland. Dongfang Civil and Martial Arts Academy has been repeatedly rated as a "National Advanced Martial Arts Hall/School" and "National Advanced Unit in Mass Sports." Principal Yan Xizheng was rated as a "National Advanced Individual in Mass Sports" and was warmly received and photographed with General Secretary Hu Jintao. Mr. Yan Xizheng has now also been elected president of the Chinese Han Poetry Society.
Hunan's First "Top Ten" Civil and Martial Arts School — Hunan Nanbei Civil and Martial Arts Academy
Known as a "martial arts elite force and cradle of champions," Hunan Nanbei Civil and Martial Arts School was founded in the 1980s. It is a full-time regular school focusing on academics with martial arts as its specialty, cultivating high-quality civil and martial arts talents. The school is located at the east gate of Shizishan Park in Xinhua, governed by experts, and has a strong faculty led by renowned martial artist and educator Principal Zou Shoufu. Over more than 20 years since its founding, it has trained over 50,000 talents. Representing the county, city, and province in competitions at all levels, it has won over 40 team championships and more than 1,400 individual gold, silver, and bronze medals. It has been rated year after year as a national and provincial advanced civil and martial arts institution and was once awarded the honorary title of "National Top Ten Outstanding Units" by the National People's Congress — the only civil and martial arts school in the country to receive this honor.
Home of World Badminton Champions — Anhua County
Yiyang is a key source of badminton players for Hunan and even the whole country. Anhua County alone has provided 46 badminton players to various provinces and cities nationwide, of whom 17 entered the national team and national youth team — a record few places can match. At the 2006 Hunan Provincial Games, out of a total of 36 badminton gold medals, Yiyang won 22, making it the province's top gold medal winner in badminton. In 1973, the prefectural sports commission allocated special funds to establish the Anhua Badminton Sports School. Over more than 30 years, through the unremitting efforts of several generations, Anhua Badminton School has become a national badminton sports school, producing world champions who have dominated the world badminton scene — Tang Jiuhong (the "Badminton Queen"), Gong Zhichao, Gong Ruina, Huang Sui, Chen Lin, and others — and cultivating famous coaches such as Tang Hui and He Xiangyang, bringing Anhua County to the world stage. Anhua County has been rated by the International Badminton Federation as the "Home of World Badminton Champions."
Home of Hard Qigong — Zhangjiajie
Zhangjiajie Guigu Divine Skill (also known as Dayong Hard Qigong) is mainly spread in Yongding District. In the 1970s and 1980s, Tujia villager Zhao Jishu from Guanliping twice accompanied Chinese martial arts and hard qigong delegations on visits to perform in Luxembourg, Italy, Belgium, the United Kingdom, and other European countries. After watching Zhao Jishu's Zhangjiajie Guigu Divine Skill performances of "Lying on Steel Fork on the Belly," "Breaking Stones on the Abdomen While Lying on a Knife Bed," and other feats, the King of Luxembourg warmly praised him as an "International Qigong Master," and Zhangjiajie also became known as the "Home of Hard Qigong." Zhangjiajie Guigu Divine Skill mainly includes hard qigong, martial arts, and boxing, composed of over twenty sets including "Lying on Steel Fork on the Belly," "Breaking Stones on a Knife Bed," "Chopping Stones with the Hand," "Silver Spear Against the Throat," and "Breaking Stones on the Head." What makes it remarkable is that with the same props, hard qigong practitioners from other places cannot perform it. Therefore, it is a bond of ethnic identity, an irreplaceable gem of local art, and has been listed in the first batch of Zhangjiajie's intangible cultural heritage protection list.