Keeping fit around the clock in China's remote mountain county

The sun has just risen over the Qinling Mountains at 6:30 am; 75-year-old Peng Lizhu has started his day by playing pingpong with his friends at a sports center in Shanyang County of China's Shaanxi Province.

Peng is just one among the more than 100 people who do morning exercises at the county stadium.

"Facilities at the sports center are quite good. Every day I play table tennis for two hours. People also play badminton, do some running or tai chi," said Peng, waving his paddle, "Now that there are good sports facilities, more people would love to keep fit. The healthier we become, the happier we are."

Fitness has become a new lifestyle for residents in the remote county tucked in the Qinling Mountains, a natural boundary between China's north and south. Shanyang was removed from the national poverty list in 2020.

Shaking off absolute poverty, the county has channeled more resources to mass fitness projects in a bid to improve people's livelihood.

At 8:30 am, hikers descended on the newly-built hiking trail in Mount Cuiping Park. Aside from the two hiking trails on the two mounts of Cuiping and Canglong, an 8.5-km riverside walking lane has just been paved, and a 2-km one is under construction, according to Wang Linpei, an official with the county sports center.

"There's one fitness venue for every urban resident within a 10-minute walk," said Wang, "Hiking and running have become a morning routine for many people."

After playing table tennis, Peng attended the college for the elderly, a public facility where senior citizens take non-degree courses. He studies playing the erhu, Chinese violin, and singing opera, while his wife takes dancing classes. The couple didn't go home for a noon break until 11:00 am.

At 2:30 pm, a basketball class began in the gymnasium of Shanyang Middle School. Dozens of students were dribbling and shooting on the court, which also opens for all citizens for free after school.

As most people got off work at 5:00 pm, some urban residents and nearby villagers arrived at the City Sports Park in the west of the county. The park opened last year and is equipped with a futsal pitch, a roller-skating rink, basketball courts and ping pong tables.

As the sun sets, the passion for ping pong in the county sports center doesn't fade away, and this time it was a group of children. Training sessions for these little players from Zhengyang Table Tennis Club begin at 7 pm every day.

"They might be the future of Chinese ping pong," said Chen Zhengzong, the club coach, "One of our players entered the provincial team last year."

Zhang Wenqi, 10, plays for two hours every day. "I want to be a world champion like Xu Xin," he said.

When the little paddlers wiped the sweat and left for home at 9 pm, Li Anmin, chief of the county badminton association, and his fellow association members hit their shuttlecocks hard across the nets next door.

"We usually play from 9:00 pm to 11:00 p.m," said Li, who was happy to see the association membership expand from around 30 in 2009 to 139 today.

Outside the stadium, the square was also brightly lit up for people who practiced martial arts and children who study taekwondo.

A swimming pool inside the sports center will start operation in April, adding the number of sports events that locals can take part in at the center to 11.

"Regardless of age, event and competitive level, Shanyang residents can always find a place that fits their fitness preferences around the clock," said Xiao Xucheng, vice director of the county's sports bureau.