Changzhou Sports Stadium

Several sports complexes have been built recently in Changzhou. A soccer stadium with a track, a badminton arena, and an exhibition center were recently finished. Another arena for tennis is still under construction. An electronics convention was held last week in the exhibition center and the China Master’s badminton tournament was held in the badminton arena two weeks ago. They were all built in preparation for Changzhou’s hosting of the 2010 Jiangsu province sports meet.

The stadium was used for the first time a couple weekends ago to hold an opening ceremony for the 13th Changzhou sports event. Every school and city seems to have an annual sports day or weekend now. Our school’s 11th sports day is Thursday this week.
Our staff or foreign teachers were invited to watch an opening ceremony for the stadium. It was only a couple days before hand that we found out we were also going to march in the ceremony. We have Saturday classes every other week but, including last Saturday, but I was excused from all of them for the event. It felt like a college football game day as thousands of people, mostly local students, stalled traffic walking through the streets towards the stadium. We were seated inside the stadium, called the Bird’s Egg because it’s similar in shape to Beijing’s Bird’s Nest, only with a smooth and solid silver-colored exterior. We weren’t inside for very long because we were soon taken outside to line up for the parade.

All sorts of civic groups and schools and performers were gathered outside and in the tunnels of the stadium. The police were in their uniforms, the students in their track suits, the performers in all kinds of colorful outfits, and then about 80 foreigners dressed in everyday street clothes. We really stood out from the other groups who all dressed the same and had practiced marching in order. We were a disorganized mix of business people, teachers, and high school AFS students waving our home country’s flags and snapping pictures as we marched around the track.

We entered the stadium behind a several groups of police officers and military and in front of students representing each of the city’s districts. Over 60,000 roared as we shuffled around the track. Hundreds of balloons were released, and then birds, and then several hot air balloons flew over the stadium. We went back into the stands to watch some performances and hundreds of people in the far stands held up colored signs that together made different pictures. It was both impressive and humorous and very Chinese.

Pictures here.