The 2017 China Climbing Club League "Gansu Construction Investment First Construction Cup" Lanzhou · Anning Station concluded successfully on the evening of September 10th at Renshou Mountain in Anning District, Lanzhou City. The league was jointly organized by the Chinese Mountaineering Association, the Lanzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, the Lanzhou Municipal Bureau of Sports, and the People's Government of Anning District, Lanzhou. It was hosted by the Anning District Bureau of Culture and Sports and the Lanzhou Anning Urban Construction Investment Co., Ltd., and exclusively operated by Shizhi Sports. The China Climbing Club League is the highest-level national climbing club competition in China. The climbing venue at Renshou Mountain Scenic Area, where the event was held, is the first artificial climbing wall in China built according to the latest international standards following the introduction of new competition formats and regulations. It has become the largest comprehensive climbing facility in the five northwestern provinces of China.
Speed climbing finals – Professional category
The competition featured a diverse range of categories and formats. After two days of intense competition, a total of 36 awards were presented across difficulty climbing, speed climbing, and bouldering events in both the professional and elite categories. In the women’s professional difficulty climbing, the champions were Zhang Yuexiong, Chen Zhuoying, and Niu Di, while the women’s elite difficulty champions were Hu Chunhua, Fang Ke, and Xie Yue. In the men’s professional difficulty climbing, the top three were Ma Zida, Qu Haibin, and You Jiajun, and in the men’s elite difficulty, they were Chen Yongchen, Zhang Qi, and Liu Sichao. For women’s professional speed climbing, the winners were Niu Di, Pan Xuhua, and Chen Zhuoying, and in the women’s elite speed category, they were Zhang Lingzhi, Fang Ke, and Hu Chunhua. In the men’s professional speed climbing, the champions were Chen Zhihuan, Mo Shuangxi, and Wang Fengqi, while the men’s elite speed winners were Gui Shiguang, Liang Rongqi, and Wei Gongyu. In the women’s professional bouldering, the top three were Zhang Yuexiong, Niu Di, and Chen Zhuoying, and in the women’s elite bouldering, they were Xie Yue, Liu Yujiao, and Zeng Dan. For the men’s professional bouldering, the winners were Ma Zida, You Jiajun, and Ou Zhifeng, and in the men’s elite bouldering, they were Liu Sichao, Zhao Zhigang, and Fu Jiahao.
Luo Shen, Deputy Secretary-General of the Chinese Mountaineering Association and Director of the Olympic Preparation Office, Xue Lei, Deputy Secretary of the Anning District Committee, Zhang Jibin, Standing Committee Member of the Anning District Committee and Executive Deputy District Head, Hu Jihé, Chairman of Gansu First Construction Group Co., Ltd., Wang Yunru, Party Committee Secretary of Gansu First Construction Group Co., Ltd., Li Mingxin, General Manager of Gansu First Construction Group Co., Ltd., and Gao Yongbin, General Manager of Gansu Chichen Auto Sales Service Co., Ltd., attended the closing ceremony. Xue Lei, Deputy Secretary of the Anning District Committee, on behalf of the CPC Lanzhou Anning District Committee, the Lanzhou Anning District People’s Government, and the organizing committee, extended warm congratulations to the athletes who achieved outstanding results. The 2017 China Climbing Club League "Gansu Construction Investment First Construction Cup" Lanzhou · Anning Station achieved three “firsts”: the first time the league was held in the northwest region, the first use of the latest standard climbing walls, and the largest competition venue ever. During the event, participants demonstrated exceptional athletic performance and technical skills, allowing the audience to deeply experience the allure of climbing. It provided a grand visual spectacle for local residents, brought vitality to urban development, and added new dimensions to the growth of Anning’s sports tourism industry. It fostered new opportunities, breakthroughs, and achievements in the integration of culture, sports, and tourism in Anning, accelerating the fusion of these sectors and promoting their overall prosperity. This event plays a significant role in advancing the “national fitness campaign” in our district and exploring a sports tourism integration path suited to Anning’s realities. It also injects fresh momentum into our efforts to accelerate the realization of the “One Core, Four Zones” development goals.
Zhang Jibin, Standing Committee Member of the Anning District Committee and Executive Deputy District Head, presided over the closing ceremony
Xue Lei, Deputy Secretary of the Anning District Committee, delivered a speech
Zhang Yuexiong, a 14-year-old who claimed both the women’s professional difficulty climbing and women’s professional bouldering championships, is the youngest champion in the national climbing competitions at the National Games. We were fortunate to witness her outstanding performance at the event. From 2012 to 2016, Zhang Yuexiong achieved remarkable results at the National Youth Climbing Championships, Guangdong Provincial Climbing Championships, Asian Youth Climbing Championships, and the Leye Station of the National Climbing Series. On August 8, 2017, at the climbing finals of the mass events during the 13th National Games held at Huayan National Climbing Demonstration Park in Jiulongpo District, Chongqing, she won the women’s difficulty climbing championship, becoming the youngest ever national games climbing champion. As climbing has been included as an official event in the Tokyo Olympics, Zhang Yuexiong will embark on her Olympic journey in three years.
Zhang Yuexiong during the women’s professional bouldering finals
Double champion: Women’s professional difficulty climbing and women’s professional bouldering
In addition to the professional and entertaining competitions, the league also prepared highly engaging carnival activities for spectators. These included inflatable wall climbing experiences, slackline madness, finger pressure pad kangaroo jumps, “crossing the river by feeling the stones,” and tangram challenges, all offering participants a chance to experience the unique appeal of climbing firsthand. The opening performances further elevated the atmosphere, with vibrant climbing baby (climbing babies) shows, energetic band performances, dynamic street dance, and cool on-site DJs adding splashes of color to the event and electrifying the entire venue.
Champions’ Salon
Carnival Activities
The competition venue, Renshou Mountain Ecotourism Scenic Area, is located on the northern bank of the Yellow River in the western suburbs of Lanzhou City and is a national-level key ecotourism destination. Along the main road and Shoushan Avenue within the scenic area, there are fountains, rockeries, and lotus ponds, among other tourist attractions. A 6.9-meter-tall, 60-ton statue of Laozi and a 36-meter-long, 2-meter-high, 56-slab Dàodéjīng stele forest—engraved with the Dàodéjīng text written by Yuan Dynasty calligrapher Zhao Mengfu—imbue the site with deep Taoist cultural heritage, organically blending history and culture with tourism and greatly enriching the visitor experience.
As a valuable national-level climbing brand event, the China Climbing Club League, by landing in Lanzhou Anning and leveraging the area’s abundant resources, integrated elements such as competition, performances, cuisine, trade exhibitions, and carnivals. It fully showcased the “fashionable, dynamic, and passionate” spirit of climbing, delivering a grand sports event to the local community while highlighting the cultural characteristics and development prospects of Anning District. This established a new starting point for sports tourism and laid the foundation for creating a unique, domestically first-class, and internationally renowned sports tourism destination. It also served as a beautiful calling card to promote Lanzhou Anning.