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Dragon boat racing dates back about 2500 years ago and remains a traditional event held around China every year. There is evidence that a similar sport to Football was played in China around 1000 AD, leading some modern historians to suggest that Football in fact originates in China. From the Song Dynasty on Tai Chi Chuan and similar qigong martial arts activities became popular in China. The influx of modern sports appeared in China since the beginning of the 20th Century. The People's Republic of China has emphasized on sports and the government funds, and trains young talented players into professional players, especially in the mid-20th century. Table tennis is one of the biggest recreational sports in the amateur league in China today, with an estimated 200 million players. However, China's professional success in sports is slowly and steadily moving up the ladder.
Table tennis (Ping Pong)
Ping Pang Qiu is the official name for the sport of table tennis in China. Apart from the national representative team, the table tennis community in China continues to produce many world-class players, and this depth of skill allows the country to continue dominating recent world titles after a short break during the 1990s. The overwhelming dominance of China in the sport has triggered a series of rules changes in the International Table Tennis Federation and as part of the Olympics.
Badminton
Allure of this sport lies in relative simplicity, inexpensive equipment and easy accessibility to venues. Badminton is a very established sport in China and famous Chinese badminton players include Lin Dan, Zhang Ning, Gao Ling, and Huang Sui. It's a popular recreational sport and amateur leagues exist across the country.
Baseball
Baseball in China first appeared in 1863 with the establishment of the Shanghai Baseball Club by American medical missionary Henry William Boone. Organized baseball games were established with a game between the St. Johns University and the Shanghai MCA baseball club in 1905. However, in 1959 Mao Zedong disbanded all teams and outlawed baseball. After the Cultural Revolution ended, baseball activities restarted, and the China Baseball Association formed in 1974. In 2002, the China Baseball League was formed, and China participated in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. However, it is not a popular sport and it is often seen by Chinese as a mere American curiosity due to its slow pace.
Basketball
As basketball was only invented in 1898 it is inscrutable that China "is the third oldest country that plays basketball after USA and Canada." Since the arrival of Houston Rockets superstar Yao Ming in the NBA in 2002, the game has grown considerably in the world's most populated country. Some experts estimate as many as 300 million of China's 1.3 billion population now play basketball. The first professional team in China was a team that started in Shenyang. The Chinese Basketball Association was established in 1995 and in 2004 it expanded to 12 teams. UnlBA, and very much like the European systems, Chinese basketball uses the system of promotion and relegation for its leagues.
Chess
China is now a chess superpower and proved so at the 2006 37th Chess Olympiad in Turin when the men's team came second and the women's team third for easily the best result overall. The Chinese progress has been underpinned by large government support and testing competition in numerous tough events. Commensurate with its status, China currently has seven top hundred players, second only to Russia. However, even today countries like Russia and Israel still have an edge in experience over their Chinese counterparts.
Cricket
Cricket is a fast growing sport in China. The Chinese cricket team is the team that represents the country of the People's Republic of China in international arena. The Chinese Cricket Association became an International Cricket Council affiliate member in 2004. It should be noted that the Special administrative region of Hong Kong is a member of the ICC in their own right, becoming an ICC associate member in 1969. Hence, players from Hong Kong are not eligible to represent China in international competition. Prior to the establishment of a recognized national side, the Shanghai Cricket Club, the largest club in the country, played games against many touring sides but they do not receive official recognition from the Chinese Cricket Association.
A list of Chinese future goals:
2009: Have 720 teams across the country in a well-organized structure
2015: Have 20,000 players and 2,000 coaches
2019: Qualify for the World Cup
2020: Gain Test status
