Equestrian sports come into fashion in China
More mainlanders are joining expatriates at riding clubs in Shanghai and Beijing, and show-jumping events are evolving into social celebrations
Decked out in elegant dresses and eye-catching hats, the thousand or so women could have been easily been mistaken for an audience at a fashion show.
But they were gathered to watch a top-class equestrian competition, the Longines Global Champions Tour, in a square in front of Shanghai's China Art Museum last month, the latest addition to the mainland's broadening sports culture.
The number of Shanghai residents who take part in equestrian activities is estimated to be only in the low thousands. But that did not deter the municipal government from bidding for the rights to host the show, which is recognised by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports as the leading show-jumping series.
Jiang Lan , general manager of the state-owned sport event organiser Shanghai Juss Event Management Company, said 200,000 foreigners worked or studied in the city and seven million visited from overseas each year, so the local government should foster a cultural environment that can serve international residents and visitors.
"This is part of the reason to hold equestrian contests, as we do with other international events - Formula One and the ATP World Tour, for example," he said.
Xue Jinfan , deputy director of Shanghai Equestrian Sports Administration Centre, a government body supervising sport development in the city, said equestrian activities were gaining popularity.
