Shijing Sports Industrial Park, located on the original site of Shijing Industrial Park in Shanghai’s Yangpu district, was unveiled on July 2.

Covering an area of 9,000 square meters, the abandoned old industrial park had 8 separate buildings. As soon as the news came that the old workshops would be transformed, many companies were scrambling to rent the area and finally the sports program succeeded.

Meng Xiangheng, a former athlete and the manager of the new park, said that when the transformed park was opened to the public for the first time early this year, it attracted many surrounding residents with the largest visitor flow being 500 a day.

In Meng’s view, the old workshops have natural advantages to be transformed into stadiums due to their height. “They are perfect for being built into basketball and badminton halls. Moreover, it is located in a densely populated area with 12 communities and 400,000 residents,”said Meng.

Besides the two buildings that were changed into a basketball and badminton hall in the first phase of construction,the six others have also been included into the transformation plan. “We are going to build a fitness center and swimming pool, a multi-purpose intelligent arena for basketball, football, and volleyball, as well as a comprehensive training gym for high-end sports like fencing,”explained Mr. Meng.