Chongming leads the charge

Shanghai's Chongming Island, site of the recent UCI Women's World Tour race, has become a highly popular destination for cycling and fitness enthusiasts.

The May 9-11 UCI Women's World Tour (Tour of Chongming Island) attracted 18 teams from 14 countries and regions to compete in the 347.7-kilometer event.

Organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale, the General Administration of Sport of China and Shanghai Municipal People's Government, and co-hosted by the Chinese Cycling Association and Shanghai Max Success Culture and Sports Co. Ltd, the three-day race covered 17 towns on the island, the most in its history.

Netherlands rider Lorena Wiebes was crowned champion after the three stages, while China's Liv Pro Cycling, the continent's first professional women's cycling team, topped the Asian category.

Millard Kaitlyn, a member of Team Illuminate from the United States, praised the organization of the race and the beautiful sights along its routes.

"The island is beautiful. It's always cool to race in different countries and experience different cultures. China definitely puts on a great race," she said.

Officials said the annual competition has made the island a popular destination, with more than 150,000 cyclists flocking to Chongming every year. A variety of sports tournaments and fitness events has also contributed to the island's attraction for outdoor sports lovers.

To enhance the cycling scene, Chongming authorities have embarked on a project to upgrade the main highway to allow road racing events and introduce new sites for mountain, track and BMX competitions.

The island also holds at least 50 district-level sports competitions annually and international competitions such as the Ironman 70.3 triathlon and the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon.

Shen Jinkang, chairman of the China Cycling Association, said these events have become an integral part of the tourism industry. The development of Chongming into a sporting hub is a result of the Shanghai government's 13th Five-Year Plan, which is aimed at turning the island into a world-class ecological zone.

The plan states that sporting authorities will optimize and integrate distribution of sports industry resources, as well as develop outdoor fitness and recreation projects to transform Chongming into an outdoor sports destination and leisure brand known at home and abroad.

In 2017, the General Administration of Sport of China announced the first batch of 96 towns featuring sports and leisure. Two of them are located in Chongming.

Located on the eastern side of Chongming Island, Chenjia town is set to become a zone for cycling, equestrian, soccer, road running and golf. Lyvhua town, on the western end of the island, will be expanded to accommodate marathons, water sports and ironman competitions.

"Lyvhua Town will also offer facilities for parachute training, flying unmanned aerial vehicles and training for other low-altitude aerial projects," said Gong Yaofei, director of Chongming's sports bureau.

"The functions of the sports towns will be further broadened to include fitness offerings and recreational activities related to culture, film and television."

Each of the towns will host around 30 sports events every year by 2021. Officials said the scale of the island's sports industry has grown at an average rate of 85 percent annually since 2014, making Chongming's sports industry the fastest-growing among all districts in Shanghai.

Statistics show the island's sports market burgeoned from 900 million yuan ($131 million) in 2014 to 5.8 billion ($850 million) in 2017. There are presently more than 1,000 sports enterprises in Chongming, up from just 380 in 2014.

The massive (558,970 square meters) Shanghai Chongming Sports Training Base, completed last year, is expected to lend the sports industry a further boost.

The training base has specialized venues to host 14 sports as well as facilities for education, medical rehabilitation and scientific research.