China
Sports Museum
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| Souvenir cup and plate awarded
to Rong Guotuan in 1959 at the 25th World Table Tennis Championships
man's singles champion. |
Ming Dynasty Cuju motif high-foot
bowl.
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Han Dynasty brick with polo motif.
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The medals and mementos awarded
to Chinese athlete Jia Youliang at the 11th Olympics in
1936. |
The China Sports
Museum, inside the National Olympic Sports Center on 3A Anding
Road, Andingmenwai, Beijing, is China's first museum dedicated
to the nation's sporting history. Its exterior is in the shape
of an octagonal spiral, with white walls and a red roof, and
its exhibits record the development of sport in China through
the ages.
The museum's exhibits
include vivid representations of ancient sports, including archery,
hunting, jiaodi (wrestling), boating, polo, cuju,
pitch-pot, chuiwan (an ancient Chinese ball game, the
precursor of golf), qigong, and baixi.
Cuju, a game similar
to soccer, was played with a ju, a kind of ball made
from leather. It was very popular during the Song Dynasty. The
museum has a painting depicting the Song Emperor Taizu playing
cuju, a Song Dynasty cuju motif ivory brush pot,
and a Yuan Dynasty (1206-1368) bronze mirror decorated with
an image of men and women playing cuju. During the Ming Dynasty
(1368-1644), the government banned the game, but no reason was
given why.
Chinese ancient sports
are exhibited in the museum's Hall No.1. It houses a collection
of artifacts, murals, rubbings and photos showing sports from
the pre-Qin period (before 221 B.C.) to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911),
and sand tables depicting Tang Dynasty (618-907) games of polo
and Song Dynasty (960-1279) cuju. The museum's numerous
paintings, pottery figurines and bronze mirrors demonstrate
that during the Tang Dynasty polo (also known as jiqiu)
was a sport enjoyed by all social classes.
Hall No.2 traces
China's modern sports development from 1840 to 1949, encompassing
the last years of the Qing Dynasty through to the establishment
of the Republic of China (1912-1949). It was during this period
that modern sports such as basketball, gymnastics, soccer, volleyball,
and swimming, came to China, and that Chinese athletes began
to participate in major international sports events like the
Olympic Games. One exhibits the set of red sportswear worn by
Chinese free pistol shooting champion Xu Haifeng at the 23rd
Olympics held in 1984. He was the first Chinese to win an Olympic
gold medal.
The No.5 Olympic
Hall exhibits 500 pictures and 100 objects that detail the history
of the Olympics, encompassing 25 Summer Olympics, 16 Winter
Olympics, establishment of the IOC (International Olympic Committee),
and development of China's relationship with the Olympics. The
hall also contains a special exhibit on Beijing's application
to host the 2000 Olympics. The PRC (People's Republic of China)
Sports Achievements Exhibition, held in Halls No.3 and No.4,
houses a collection of 500 world champion cups, world record
medals, sand tables, and 500 rare pictures of famous Chinese
athletes. The St. Bride Vase (duplicate) was awarded to the
China National Table Tennis Team on its consecutive winning
of the 25th, 26th, 27th, and 28th World Table Tennis men's singles
Championship. The vase is thus a tribute to China's superlative
table tennis players.
On visiting this
museum, former IOC (International Olympic Committee) chairman
Juan Antonio Samaranch declared that it was the best of its
kind in the world.
How to get there:
Take the subway to Andingmen, transfer to bus Nos 328, 108,
358, or 409, and get off at Aotidongmen.
Open: 9:00 - 16:00
Admission: 10 yuan
