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Chinese people have always enjoyed activities like hiking, swimming, skiing and other winter sports, badminton, volleyball, gymnastics, Taijiquan and other forms of martial arts, and table tennis. They are avid cyclists as bicycling remains the main mode of travel for many Chinese. Now new activities also are becoming popular, especially among young people, such as rock climbing, bowling, skateboarding, and golf.

The latest national survey on physical fitness in China completed in October 2001 revealed both good news and bad news. The good news is that Chinese people are living longer. Between 1990 and 2002 the average life expectancy of a Chinese person increased by 3.25 years, reaching 71.8 years, somewhere near the level of moderately developed countries. Of course, many Chinese live much longer than the average, and China can claim the oldest living person in the world: On June 18, 2002, a Chinese woman, Du Pinhua, of Leshan, Sichuan Province, earned her place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's oldest person. She is 116.

The 2001 national survey on physical fitness was the largest such survey since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949. The national health survey extended over three years and covered 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government. The survey also showed that the level of growth of children and teenagers in China's rural areas has increased greatly and that the average rate of increase of every index of their body surpassed that of children of the same age group in cities.

But the survey also revealed some worrying information. The physical fitness of Chinese citizens in a more affluent society worsens considerably after they turn 40, and obesity is common among adults and is getting to be a problem among young people. The health condition of women in the countryside is far from satisfactory.

To promote physical fitness nationwide, the State Physical Culture Administration has adopted many measures in the hope that more people will engage in fitness activities as a voluntary part of their daily routine under a Nationwide Physical Fitness Program established in 1995 that aims to improve the health and overall physical condition of the general population. With an emphasis on young people and children, this program encourages everyone to engage in at least one sports activity daily, learn at least two ways of keeping fit and have a health examination every year. It requires that physical culture departments at all levels study people's varied choices of time, types and ways of fitness activities, and create more popular fitness programs in line with what people want.

Many sports organizations promote sports activities in businesses, schools and neighborhoods, and among individuals. These organizations also sponsor training classes and offer lectures as well as advice on physical fitness activities, and organized sports contests for businesses and individuals.

The Nationwide Physical Fitness Program is aimed particularly at young Chinese whoa?under the influence of TV-oriented culture and the heavy burdens of schoolworka?have adopted a more sedentary lifestyle. According to a national study, young Chinese people of the year 2000 were worse in terms of physical stamina such as flexibility and endurance than their 1995 counterparts even though average body weight and height dramatically improved in the 1995-2000 period. The study also showed obesity among students in cities was getting serious, especially among the 7-12 age group.

Under the Nationwide Physical Fitness Program outdoor fitness centers have been installed in urban communities in public parks, squares, schoolyards and other convenient locations. These fitness centers are widely enjoyed by people of all ages. The State Physical Culture Administration also sponsors an annual "nationwide fitness awareness week."

The situation now is that some 33.9 percent of people in China between the ages of 7-70 exercise regularly ¡§¡é?a 2.5 percentage point rise from that of 1996, according to a "Survey on Chinese Citizens¡§¡é?Participation in Sports Activities" released by the State Physical Culture Administration at the end of 2002. The proportion of elderly among those who regularly exercise declined a little while the proportion of middle-aged and young people increased somewhat. On average every family spent some 397 yuan on sports-related activities yearly.

The Nationwide Physical Fitness Program has set a goal of getting some 37 percent of China's population into a habit of regular physical exercise by 2005 and some 40 percent by 2010. Signs are that nationwide attention to fitness is helping to change awareness and lifestyles. In some big and medium cities, spending money for the sake of good health has become trendy among people who want to raise the quality of their life. There are about 616,000 gymnasiums and stadiums across China, most of them open and widely used by the general public. In recent years, the State Physical Culture Administration has set aside 60 percent of the Central Government's proceeds from sports lotterya?an equivalent of 750 million yuana?to be used for nationwide fitness activities. Meanwhile, proceeds from the sports lottery worth some 146 million yuan were used to construct public sports facilities in China's less-developed western areas and the Three Gorges region of the Yangtze River, bringing benefits to 36 counties and cities. By the end of 2001 there were 530,000 sports organizations below the provincial level across China, with 213,000 group members and 8,665,000 individual members.

Chinese Sports Websites in English

China Sports Online

http://www.sportsol.com.cn/enews/enews_index.shtm

Beijing Physical Education University

http://www.bupe.edu.cn/jgsz/htm/xzbm/wsc/htm/wsc_lbww.html