Since June, Xiao Xiaoyuan, who works at a Fortune 500 company in Beijing, has stayed up late to watch several classic matches of the UEFA European Championship. After the tournament ended, Xiao Xiaoyuan had originally hoped to adjust her "biological clock" back from European time to Beijing time. However, starting in late June, the Wimbledon Tennis Championships gradually reached their climax, and she couldn't resist the temptation. Often, while watching the live broadcast of Wimbledon at night, she would miss her regular bedtime—but she still enjoyed it.
The generational gap in sports philosophy
As a post-80s Beijing girl, Xiao Xiaoyuan became a fan of Beijing Guo’an under her father’s influence since elementary school. In Beijing, there are many young people like her who are passionate about their city’s football team. However, Xiao Xiaoyuan’s interest in watching sports matches is not as "narrow-minded" as her father’s. She says, “My dad loves watching football, table tennis, and women’s volleyball matches, all with a strong local bias. He never misses a single live TV broadcast of Beijing Guo’an matches every week. During the final match of the 2009 Chinese Super League season when Beijing Guo’an won the championship, he even specially got tickets through someone to watch it live. He also pays attention to matches of the Chinese national football team, although each viewing experience usually ends with him full of complaints. As for table tennis and women’s volleyball, it’s mainly due to China’s historically excellent performance. Although he rarely plays table tennis and almost never plays volleyball, he has had a very high level of interest in these two sports since he was young.”
Xiao Xiaoyuan found that people of her father’s generation—the post-50s—may have a unique emotional connection to table tennis and women’s volleyball. “I’m surprised that when they talk about the Chinese table tennis team and women’s volleyball team, they can recite detailed information about players and coaches from many years back. They care deeply about the results of China’s teams in major international competitions. If China wins, they shower praise on the players and coaches; if they lose, they analyze the reasons. But our generation rarely pays that much attention to table tennis and women’s volleyball. We even think that the Chinese table tennis team has become unbeatable—what’s the point of watching such matches? As for the women’s volleyball team, I feel a bit sad for them. The reason they get so much attention is because they live under a huge spotlight. Without that spotlight, how many fans would they really have?”
Becoming a sports enthusiast, Xiao Xiaoyuan is no stranger to the influence of her father since childhood, but there is a deep chasm between the two generations in how they appreciate sports matches. “After starting university, I found that my sports interests were increasingly different from my father’s. I couldn’t understand his enthusiasm for table tennis and women’s volleyball. It’s hard to imagine that he was the one who introduced me to football, yet now he barely pays any attention to truly high-level European top-tier football leagues, let alone stays up to watch the UEFA Champions League or the English Premier League. Even during prime-time European football matches at night, he often falls asleep while watching.”
As for sports like tennis, which have only gained popularity in China in recent years, Xiao Xiaoyuan and her father have even less in common to talk about. “My dad only cares about whether Li Na wins or loses. But isn’t an exciting tennis match more memorable than just the outcome?”
From appreciating sports to participating in them
In addition to watching sports matches, Xiao Xiaoyuan is also eager to try participating in them. Like most Chinese people, she taught herself to play table tennis and badminton almost effortlessly. It wasn’t until after university that she had her first experience playing tennis, but her skills were limited to simply being able to hit the ball back with a racket before she started working. However, if she had to choose between table tennis, badminton, and tennis, Xiao Xiaoyuan would without hesitation pick tennis. “Maybe it’s because many colleagues and classmates around me started playing tennis, or maybe I just want to try something new. Either way, I don’t want my interest in sports to seem so rigid and outdated.”
After starting university, Xiao Xiaoyuan not only began playing tennis but also participated in many fashionable sports activities such as mountain climbing, long-distance cycling, rock climbing, diving, and skiing. Although football, basketball, and badminton—popular among the general public—still dominate among her peers, most of them are very interested in trying new things. “In our relationship with sports, the biggest difference between our generation and our parents may be that we not only know how to appreciate sports but also have the desire to participate in them.”
However, some have also noticed changes in the older generation. “Actually, the older generation has also been gradually changing their views on sports, little by little,” said Liu Xiao, an 80s-born Beijing boy and Xiao Xiaoyuan’s university classmate who is passionate about baseball. “Take the last World Cup and this European Championship, for example. My father may have only stayed up to watch a few matches, but he was genuinely moved by the exciting games. In the past, whenever the European Championship or World Cup was on, my father would occasionally watch with me, but I felt he was just joining in for the fun. When it came to football, it seemed he only cared about who won or lost. But now, he is gradually paying less attention to the results alone.”
Liu Xiao’s father actually strongly supports Liu Xiao playing baseball in his spare time. It’s worth noting that baseball is a niche sport in China, with both low levels of professionalism and amateur training. “He doesn’t even understand baseball at all, but he often brags to his friends: ‘My son is really good at baseball.’” Liu Xiao said. “I think this is also a reflection of his shift in sports philosophy. People of his generation often have many unforgettable memories of sports events, but very few have personally experienced the joy of sports or made it a habit. Of course, my father hopes I won’t have those same regrets.”
Mass participation is essential to building a sports powerhouse
With the London Olympics about to begin, various Chinese national sports teams are gearing up, with winning the predetermined number of gold medals as their top priority. However, do ordinary Chinese people still focus solely on how many gold medals Team China will win? Both Xiao Xiaoyuan and Liu Xiao answered no.
Not long ago, Yi Jiandong, Vice President of Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, revealed to reporters that they are collaborating with relevant institutions to conduct a large-scale survey during the London Olympics. The theme of the survey is “How much do ordinary Chinese people really value Olympic gold medals?”
The final survey data may respond to one of the most important justifications long held by China’s sports authorities for emphasizing the Olympic strategy—“the people won’t accept fewer gold medals.”
In fact, according to industry observers, the Chinese perspective on appreciating sports has already shifted. “If before the Beijing Olympics, the average Chinese person cared more about Team China’s Olympic performance, then after the Chinese delegation reached the peak of athletic achievement at the Beijing Olympics, that performance goal had already been achieved. The focus of ordinary Chinese people on sports has gradually shifted toward truly appreciating the beauty of competitive sports,” said Ren Hai, Director of the Olympic Research Center of the General Administration of Sport of China and Professor at Beijing Sport University, in a recent interview with reporters.
More and more Chinese people no longer view sports through the lens of bringing glory to the country or boosting national spirit, but are genuinely captivated by the excitement of the matches and the charm of sports. As a result, some world-class sporting events in which Chinese people rarely participate—or even have no presence at all—can still gain a large following in China, such as the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championship. Some sports in which Team China performs very poorly, such as football, used to provoke intense emotional reactions. For instance, the 1985 “5·19 Incident” saw fans rioting over a loss. But now, even if Chinese football fans have great regrets about the national team’s performance, they are unlikely to react as passionately as before—just as German fans can calmly accept Germany’s losses in the European Championship.
“Although the Chinese perspective on appreciating sports has changed, our current conditions still have many shortcomings and deficiencies that prevent ordinary Chinese people from transitioning from mere spectators of sports matches to active participants,” said Ren Hai. “This is also the most crucial step China must take in evolving from a major sports nation to a true sports powerhouse. To truly bring the valuable legacy of the Beijing Olympics to the people, while maintaining the performance of Chinese teams in international competitions, we must also focus on increasing the accessibility of mass sports and youth sports, and provide the necessary conditions. The current environment for widespread public participation in various sports in China is still far from adequate.”