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Although the 4th All-China Games hasn't started yet, the idea of "Happy Sports" has already swept Hefei, host city of the big sporting event.
"Go Go Go!" "Come on!" "Defense!" Loud young voices could be heard from time to time inside the futsal soccer stadium of Hefei Gymnasium.
A friendly match between Bengbu Road primary school and Hongqiao primary school was held a few days ahead of the Games, which will kick off on Sunday.
Children around 10 years old spared no efforts to show their skills on the futsal field. They were running, passing the ball, dribbling and shooting, as if they would never feel tired.
"Score!" These little futsal players hugged and cheered their little red faces beaming with excitement. Farinha, head coach of China's futsal national team, watched the special match. Afterward, the Brazilian gave some simple but useful instructions to the little players while one of his assistants showed them his fabulous dribbling skills, which made the kids cheer.
"Soccer should bring people fun," Farinha said. "I can see the happiness through the eyes of these kids."
Getting more of China's 1.3 billion people involved in sports was one of the long-term goals of the Beijing Olympics, where China topped the medals race with 51 golds.
The All-China Games was started with this background, and it is a showcase for China's non-Olympic sporting events. One of the aims is to promote sports, and the whole event is dubbed a "national fitness program."
Chinese sports experts said the development of All-China Games showed that the Chinese people are paying more attention to the popularity of sports and fun of sports and not just the results of competitions.
The 4th Games marks a major expansion in terms of the number of participants, up from 4,000 to 30,000. It will also include 34 sports, 17 more than the inaugural games in 2000, and a new awarding system has been adopted, which will see 60 percent of the participants receive some sort of award.
In addition, there will be more entertaining and fashionable sports featured in the games, such as rock climbing, roller skating, and water-skiing.
"Compared to the first three All-China Games, the biggest highlight of the fourth is we will make use of the event to carry out comprehensive reform, making sports closer to people," said Feng Jianzhong, deputy director of the State General Administration of Sports.
The governments of Anhui province and Hefei city have put huge investments into public fitness facilities in the parks and communities throughout the city. A stadium, a fitness training hall, a roller-skating field, and rock climbing venues have been built. Maintenance and reconstruction of the Hefei Gymnasium and Natatoriums have been completed.
When the 4th Games ends, all these venues will be open to the public.
Eighty-four exercise centers will also be set in the rural areas of Hefei, according to an official at the Hefei Sports Bureau.
By Yan Fei
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