Model ship competition draws huge crowds

The “Nanxiang Cup” Shanghai Junior Marine Model Championship at Yinxiang Lake in Nanxiang Town attracted nearly 200 entrants.

The championship lasted four days and drew huge numbers of spectators.

“It’s the first time for us to watch the marine model competition at the championship site, a fresh experience for me, and I hope my son will learn the marine modelling skills in the future,” a man surnamed Zhou said. He was there with his 5-year-old son.

Yinxiang Lake is the second marine model base for the championship in Jiading after Liuyun Lake, also in Nanxiang Town. Liuyun Lake was designated as a training base for the sport in 2019.

The combined water area of the two lakes is 166,400 square meters, or the size of more than 20 soccer fields.

Marine model competitions are popular in Shanghai, and more than 20 are held in the city each year.

The Shanghai Marine Model Association has been holding competitions at Gucun Park and Meilan Lake in Baoshan District and Huating Lake in Songjiang District before the two newest events at the lakes in Nanxiang.

The Jiading District Adolescence Activity Center organizes a series of competitions to promote model ship projects among schools. A total of 231 schools and 11,896 students took part between 2018 and 2020, the center said.

After the two lakes were designated as marine model bases, “the ship model sport for adolescents can be upgraded from staging normal ship models to marine models, which can also help children improve their comprehensive skills by using hands and brain at the same time in taking part in more complicated model ship competitions,” a teacher said.