First inmate sports festival held in Qingpu Prison for better rehabilitation

Ti Gong

The city's first inmate sports festival kicked off in Shanghai Qingpu Prison on Wednesday.

About 60 percent of prisoners in 15 Shanghai prisons will participate in over 10 events including table tennis, bridge and set shot, and other relevant activities such as quizzes and lectures by local athletes, said Ding Ni, director of Qingpu prison's reform and education department.

The activity, launched by the Shanghai Prison Administration Bureau, will last for two weeks.

"To attract more inmates to participate, the prison has extended the time and added more activities based on the annual sports meet behind bars," Ding said.

"Through sports, we hope that they can have good physical and psychological health, which is conducive to the management of prisons and their rehabilitation," Ding said.

During the opening ceremony, more than a hundred prisoners performed the Wuji ball, a Chinese physical exercise ball, and baduanjin, a traditional Chinese eight-sectioned physical exercise and a form of qigong.

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An instructor with skillful maneuvers and strength stood out clearly during the baduanjin performance. The man, surnamed Liu, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for corruption.

He told Shanghai Daily that facing the changes in his life and long imprisonment, he fell into despair and was unable to think and reform at first.

A police officer discovered that he loved Tai Chi by chance and encouraged him to continue practicing it every day. From then on, his hobby has become a channel to vent his negative emotions, he said.

Every week, he leads many other prisoners in Tai Chi. "Their physical and psychological health has been improved," he said.

Tai Chi and baduanjin have become one of the strong points in prisoner rehabilitation in Liu's cell block.

Ding said the sports festival will be held every year, and the winners of the sports competition can be rewarded with products for daily use and study.

Ti Gong