Some of the world's best athletes are trading stadiums for shorelines.
The sixth Asian Beach Games taking place in Sanya is where wind and waves are part of the game and every move looks effortless.
So how does an entire city become the main stage where sport meets sea?
Coming to you live from our studios in Beijing, this is Roundtable.
I'm Steve Hatherly.
Thank you very much for being with us today.
And for the show, I'm with Yushan and Yushan.
First up...
Sand between your toes, sun on your skin and a level of competition that could rival any indoor arena.
That's the scene when elite athletes leave their traditional stadiums behind and head for the coastline.
Welcome to a world where the ocean becomes part of the playing field.
Gravity seems optional at times, and every match unfolds like a highlight reel from a summer dream.
The Sixth Asian Beach Games isn't only about who takes home the medals, however.
It's about movement redefined, cultural exchange, and a completely different rhythm of competition.
So what is it exactly that makes beach sports so thrillingly unique?
We're going to talk about that and also why some of these athletes actually perform better when conditions get messy, with the wind and the waves and the changing tides thrown into the mix.
And we'll talk about Sanya too and how a single event can transform the city. into a global stage.
It's an exciting time for sure, Yushan and Yushan, good afternoon.
And there are a lot more people in Sanya than there were a couple of weeks ago.
Lots and lots and lots of people participating, the athletes and then the other people involved.
But we'll start with the details on this year's Asian Beach Games.
Yeah, this year is the sixth...
Asian Beach Games or Sanya 2026.
And they're currently being held in Sanya Hainan province in China, from April 22nd to the 30th in 2026.
And this year, it is quite a big scale.
Approximately 1790 athletes from 45 countries and regions are competing in the Games, and the competition features 14 major categories, 15 subcategories and 62 minor events.
So popular sports include water polo, dragon boat racing, beach athletics and beach volleyball.
These are kind of things that we're going to mention later.
And China has sent a delegation of 255 people, including over 170 athletes, representing the country's athletes participation rate in the history of the Asian Beach Games.
It's a big event.
I was reading earlier today that there are over 10,000 people involved in total.
You have all those athletes, but then you have all the volunteers and all the people involved with the event as a whole.
So that's why I said there's a lot more people in Sanya now than there was a couple of weeks ago.
I love the slogan, too, for this year's theme.
It's kind of poetic.
Yeah, in English it's themed to be See Ya in Sun Ya, but in Chinese I prefer the one.
In Chinese 久久不见久久见, which literally means Oh, that sounds poetic too.
Yeah, it literally means, it's been such a long time, great to see you, or great to finally see you.
So it really is taken out from a... You're right.
Chinese is better, isn't it?
Yeah, and it's poetic in a way that is taken from the traditional Hainan folk song too.
And it's meant to express the local people's warm invitation.
And I think Hainan province in southern China is full of surprise, especially in recent months.
We've talked about the Expo, the Hainan, what's that one again?
The Expo that just recently took place and also now in Sanya.
I think it's the opening ceremony that just held in one of the iconic beach scene called 天涯海角.
How do I describe it?
It's a huge piece of stone, or several pieces, rather stand right in the center of a large piece of sand, right beside the seashore.
So you have the sunset, you have the beach view, and then you have a huge stone that says 天涯海角, like at the edge of the world or something.
So they actually print that on pokers and sell it as iconic... tourism souvenir.
So that's the charm of Sanya.
And that's also a big reason why, like you mentioned Steve, like so many people are gathered there for the six Asian beach games.
And also the mascot this year is really cute.
It's called Yaya.
It's designed based on the Hainan L's deer, a national protected wildlife species unique to Hainan.
So the name Ya Ya not only represents San Ya, because it has a similar character, but also symbolizes Asia, which in Chinese is called Ya Zhou.
It also has a Ya in it.
So yeah, it's a very clever combination of both.
Yeah, they're using a lot of these rhymey words to make it really connect to each other.
And I really think that is the cute part, when they're designing the names or the slogan and a theme and everything to make not only like local people resonate but also people internationally.
It's a big event because of those international athletes and international visitors, along with the domestic travelers and athletes, of course.
But it's big in the sense that they are utilizing eight competition venue clusters and one training venue.
So it's kind of olympic-y in that way.
Yeah, so the game utilized eight competition venue this year, venue clusters, as a matter of fact, and one training venue too.
Many of many of these venues are situated along the 22-kilometer Sanya Bay, which is known as the Coconut Dream Corridor.
That's a great name, too.
I know.
Sounds like something you can hear from a game, but yeah, it's actually in China which, of course, offers natural high quality sand, ideal for sports like beach and volleyball and football, and not the sand.
I think i'm going to mention it later as we gradually unveil what are the sports that's turning out this year, but yeah, that's super cool.
A lot that, a lot to anticipate and yeah, a lot of things going on and also to encourage local participation, which means that they're inviting citizens there, or maybe even tourists, to get into this international game.
The city of sanya has released approximately 118 000 uh tickets or benefit tickets to allow citizens to actually experience this international event you can actually get into these venues and to see how thrilling the sports are, and the Hainan Free Trade Ports visa-free entry policy for 86 countries has facilitated easier travel for athletes and also media representatives to get in and enjoy this game.
The games themselves, the Asian Beach Games, doesn't have that long of a history, does it?
It sounds really new to me, actually.
I think this is the first time that we gusset, as far as i know, okay that the time that i arrived here in roundtable i.
This is, i think, the first time that we discussed this abg asian beach game same here.
I think it's the first time it's happened actually, since you and i perhaps have both been on the show, yeah and um.
This is one of the five major multi-sport events organized also by the Olympic Council for Asia.
So Steve, you just mentioned that it's quite Olympic-y, but yeah, it is actually.
There's a connection.
And actually, on September 9th 2005, at the 24th General Assembly of the Olympic Council of Asia held in Guangzhou, the OCA formally decided to establish the Asian Beach Games.
Right.
So that was in September of 2005.
But it did take a few years because it was in 2008 when the first edition of the games was held, and that was held in another beautiful location in Bali Indonesia, if you've ever had the pleasure of visiting.
The event itself, it was initially staged every couple of years.
But starting in 2016, it was adjusted to a four-year cycle.
So the sixth Asian Beach Games, which is what we're having now.
It was supposed to be if it was on schedule, it was going to be held in Sanya back in 2020.
Right.
But it got postponed.
COVID related things were part of the major reasons there.
And now here we are in 2026 and it's finally taking place.
So this this event was a long time waiting.
Yeah.
It all makes sense now.
Do you think the name, the slogan, and I haven't seen you for a long time.
Yeah, it's finally a time that we can meet.
All right.
So let's talk about some of the highlights then, shall we?
Yeah, of course.
The first and foremost has to be the opening ceremony.
I watched several clips from online and it features so many different elements that you wouldn't expect to be on a sports opening ceremony, such as, of course, there's VR demonstration.
I think it's a shape of a coconut, but it tells the stories of a coconut, of how it represents the local Lee ethnic group in Hainan.
It's wearing all the traditional decoration on the coconut and then it rolls over and starts to do all the sports that's going to happen in the six Asian beach games.
And then...
Outside, like from within, walk out Yaya, the mascot, like sending all the good wishes to everybody.
And also there's like firework that's really sky's the limit for this whole thing.
It's like the it's themed after the covenant of sea and sky.
And it was held on April, the 22nd, at the Asian Beach Games Park within the famous Tianyang Haizhou scene I just mentioned.
They described it as a beach party, an immersive beach party.
And the idea was that the audience could feel like they were part of the performance, too.
Yeah.
And when you say beach party, I think to our North American listeners it might sound like a music festival or something.
Everybody wearing bikini and jumping and dancing.
But really, this is more like a beach show featuring a lot of different experiences.
There's humanoid robots.
Like welcoming all the athletes from all corners of Asia.
And the show actually used sunrise at sea as its core image to symbolize the passion and also new beginnings.
One example is that the production blended high-tech elements, as you mentioned, smart robots with traditional high-end touches like Lee brocade and meow embroidery.
And I think the flag bearers also, they're really popular in China, leading industry.
The Chinese delegation were beach handball star Shen Ping and three-to-three basketball player Yan Peng, representing the energy of the whole team, and the ceremony always include that each team getting to the venue and that is the moment everybody's cheering for all the teams and you can totally feel the passion and the energy in the venue and also from sanya.
Yeah, it kind of started even before that, when the torch relay kicked off.
I think that happened on the on the 30th of march and it was connected to those themes of beach and sun and sand and it went through iconic sanya landmarks until it finally found its resting place.
So Yeah, the buildup was big and now the event's happening and it's very big as well.
The opening ceremonies.
By the way, if you're curious, those are also set to take place at the Asian Beach Games Park, the same place that Yushan was just talking about.
And it's going to continue all those themes that we just discussed, too.
You mean closing ceremonies?
Closing ceremonies, yeah.
All right, so...
If we're going to talk about sports, then we have to talk about sports.
What are some of the cool ones that are being represented at the Beach Asian Games, or Asian Beach Games?
I'm so ashamed to admit, but actually, I don't know many of...
All that's going on right now with the Asian Peace Games.
That's why it's such a great learning experience, because an event like this, like we're familiar with all the normal Olympic events.
But this is where some things get showcased that people might not know about.
I think one among all the other spectacular sports that's going on that surprised me would be water polo, because that one really is noteworthy, because they aren't just simply playing in a controlled pool.
They're in the ocean and they have to battle all the natural forces like the wind, the waves.
And in the meantime they have to keep on patting like, keep on treading in the water without like having the water bury them, just like that and keep the match going.
Keep the game going.
They usually play water polo in a swimming pool, right?
So the water is completely calm.
But here I saw it.
They put it offshore.
Not like an oil rig offshore, not out in the middle of the ocean, but it's pretty close to the shore.
But still, it's deep enough that the athletes can't stand up.
So yeah, having to tread water, having to deal with the waves and the wind a little bit, it adds an extra element of difficulty to it.
Yes, and I think, another one that actually interests me, and I saw a lot of news reports saying that the beach handball is also one of the most highlighted sports I saw.
I saw some videos of this right yeah, it's kind of uh, it's kind of artistic in an odd kind of way.
Exactly that's that's why I think it is very interesting and attractive, because beach handball is a kind of fast-paced team sport played on sand, where two teams are pass and then jump and shoot a ball into the opponent's goal.
And then what makes it stand out as its emphasis on creativity, because players are rewarded for their spectacular moves, like your spins, your airborne shots and trick passes.
Maybe you can just stay in this uh, in the air for a 360 spin and then you score it, and then you can get a higher score for that goal, and then often these kind of things earn extra points for style as well as accuracy, and that's why It has been, I think, highly observed and many people are expecting this game and the result of it.
And I was thinking about what's the difference between the beach handball and beach volleyball, because they sound quite the same.
Two totally different sports.
But yeah, they're totally two different sports.
Handball is usually played on a court, and the court offers great advantages to the athletes in the sense that
It's a floor.
Yeah.
So it's easy to run.
Have you ever tried to run in the sand with no shoes on?
Oh, yeah.
It's hard.
It's so hard.
It's exhausting.
So there's that element of it.
Otherwise, it's still quite similar to the court style of handball.
But yeah, whenever I watch the highlights from the beach version, you see the artistry of the athletes, if I can put it that way, because they jump, they'll do a 360 spin before they fire their shot.
And they'll jump before they shoot on the court too, but this one feels a little bit different.
And then I always feel sorry for the goalkeepers because it's just kind of like, good luck.
It's so hard.
To stop the ball, right?
Yeah, so that's another highlighted event.
There's the Aquathlon.
Am I saying that correctly?
That's the run, swim, run race.
That needs tremendous endurance from the athletes.
Water polo, you talked about that, Yushan.
And then dragon boat racing, that's always a big hit too.
Yeah, that one is among the top five most popular sports at these games.
Dragon Boat Racing is a traditional team paddling sport where crews race long and narrow boats to the rhythm of a drummer, emphasizing a whole coordination and teamwork.
And, as a matter of fact, we just heard some good news on the final day of the Dragon Boat event that was just reported yesterday that China claimed two more gold medals in the 12-person 400-meter straight course races for both men and women.
With these wins, China secured five out of the six available Dragon Boat gold medals.
And also that's surpassing Indonesia's previous record of four golds in one single Asian Beach Games edition.
So that's... some good news that we've already kind of acquired so far.
So yeah, previously I thought Dragon Belt races are just for Dragon Belt Festival, which this year will come up in June, right?
And now it is a kind of internationally practiced sports that I actually didn't know, that many other international teams they have.
The whole, I think, no matter the venue or culture and the professional teams to do this.
The Dragon.
I think it originated in China, as a matter of fact, and it's been around for a couple of thousand years, maybe.
I don't know the detailed history, so it makes sense why Chinese athletes, I guess, are very, very good at it.
But it's kind of cool the way they do it, and this is what makes it so attractive, I think.
It's these long, narrow boats, and you have the athletes.
They are... the paddlers, and then at the front or the back of the boat.
I think it's at the front of the boat.
You mean the drummers?
Yes.
Yeah, sometimes they are at the front, sometimes they're at the end.
Yeah, so they're at the front or at the end and they have a drum, and then they beat the drum to a certain rhythm.
And then the paddlers, they follow the rhythm of the drum.
And it's really, really cool to watch.
And people, yeah, internationally now, people love it.
And it's a popular one to watch on TV.
What is your highlight among all the sports, Steve?
So I didn't pick one.
So I went through the list of what's being played and I came across one that I have never heard of before.
Kabadi, do you know what that is?
Not really.
Apparently it originated in India over 4,000 years ago.
And it's kind of like a game of tag and wrestling mixed together.
And it's played on the sand for the beach games, obviously.
And I dug into the rules a little bit.
So it looks like a court and you have one team on one side and one team on the other side, and the court is divided into two.
There's the two teams, they switch back and forth, but they are either attackers or defenders.
So the attackers send one player across the court, midline into the other teams, into the defender's territory.
The attacker's job is to touch one or as many possible members of the opposing team.
After doing that, they have to turn and run back across that midcourt line without getting tackled.
So if you get back, then you score as many points as people that you touched.
And I think it's more detailed than that, but that's kind of the basics.
And if you get tackled before you make it back, then... the other team gets a point for that.
Sounds like uh no, uh no, no offensive, but um, sounds like a little game that Chinese people play as a kid.
Tag.
Where you touch the other person and run away.
It's got an element of that, but it's got the wrestling element, too, because you get tackled.
And it's really kind of interesting to watch because nothing happens until the attacker touches somebody.
And there's only one attacker in that part of the court and there's like four defenders, from what I saw.
So everybody's just kind of waiting to see what they will do, and then it's like full-on action.
When you have them kind of attacking and dodging things, it will get interesting.
Yeah, really, really fun.
Now, as the Asian Beach Games in Sanya, the competition has passed the...
Kind of halfway stage, which is with a clearer picture emerging across events.
Overall.
According to China Newscom, China leads the medal table with 13 gold, 11 silver and four bronze medals, followed by strong challenges from Thailand and also the Philippines.
And, as Yusheng just mentioned, that China wrapped up the Dragon Bolt events with five gold medals, becoming the team with the most golds ever won in Dragon Bolt at a single Asian beach games.
And meanwhile, Thailand also emerged as the bigger winner in beach athletics at this edition, claiming three gold medals.
Well done to all.
So let's shift gears a little bit, because I want to talk about the importance of hosting an event like this.
I mean, regionally speaking, for Hainan, for Sanya, it's really quite important.
Yes indeed, because this event marks the first major international multi-sport competition that's ever hosted in Hainan since it becomes a province.
That's like decades ago.
It is also the first major international sporting event held after the island-wide special custom operations of the Hainan Free Trade Port.
So this really serves as a platform to showcase the region's openness and development to the world.
There's always something going on.
Yeah.
Right?
I wonder I was thinking.
Sorry to interrupt.
I was thinking if the local people get annoyed That they're hosting a lot of events.
It's just constant streams of people coming from somewhere for some sort of major event.
I think they can get used to it, because Hainan province, or Sanya more specifically, is a very famous tourist destination.
So I think that kind of emerged in their lives as well.
Sorry to interrupt.
I was just about to say, Hainan is full of surprises and it's taking all of the opportunities landed on it in such a well-organized and also spectacular good for viewing kind of ways.
And I just wanted to mention that we mentioned all of these sports that's going on on the sand there.
And we may think that it's just on the beach sand.
It's like normal sand and the athletes just compete on top of that, but actually no.
Hainan actually designed a type of sporting sand, if I may call it.
That's very fine.
That's in very soft and refined texture.
Every particle of those sand is specially designed for the game.
That's kind of mixed together with the sand, but of course you have designated spots for certain competitions to happen.
So athletes on the beach, they have to make explosive jumps, as we mentioned during the games, dive to the ground and land with control and and cushioning.
So if the sand is too hard or the grains are too sharp, it wouldn't be surprising for a single full body dive to leave someone with a bruise.
Let's say
But if the sand is too loose, like Steve mentioned, it's going to be hard to jump and move around.
So really it's important that details like this is considered for a province that's as important as Hainan.
That's considering everything for the benefits of not only the viewers and the spectators, but also for the athletes from all across Asia.
I didn't know that about the sand.
They play on special sand.
Yeah yeah, and i think that is why, and also one of the very important benefits that the city can get, and i've we've been discussing this for many times um, i think it is the kind of main principle of a lot of these olympic games that they're holding, because the games can leave a permanent Mark on the city or, more specifically, this year, Sanya itself.
The city underwent a major glow up, adding over 150000 square meters of new greenery.
And also creating pocket parks for the whole city for residents to enjoy long after the athletes go home.
And also to make sure locals could join the fund.
The government also released the tickets that I just mentioned to give in.
Citizens have kinda from Rossi to the international action, which means that are not only the the game right now, but also the parks, the sand, the facilities.
I think they can be the benefits, for the citizens were local residents.
Sanya was already a beautiful place before these games.
It sounds like it's going to be even prettier when they're done.
But when they are done, it's not just And this is the criticism, I suppose, of some of these major events.
The Olympics often gets criticized for this, is that they go into an area...
They have the events and then they're gone and then that's it.
And the infrastructure, what happens to that?
What's the message of an event like this?
And there is a message to this.
And I think this kind of keeps in line with the country's national fitness wants and goals and desires is that when you have something like this, all the planning that's gone into it.
You've got all of these venues.
The city plans to, Sanya plans to keep several of these venues open to the public afterwards.
So that's so wonderful that it gets put back into the hands of people that actually live there so that they can make use of it.
And not only on the facility and infrastructure side, but also on the people to people exchanging side.
I think it's really making a good role model in this in terms of how Hainan is hosting this beach game here in within its province.
I saw another clip very shortly that captured a very interesting scene where some international athletes, after the opening ceremony and as they get out of the stadium, gave the small pins.
I think it's a pin or a little tag or something.
Badges that they brought with themselves to the police officers, ladies and gentlemen that were on duty around the venue after the opening ceremony and after they receive it.
They both kind of just closed their hand and thanked each other, and I think I heard the police officers wishing that all.
Hope everything goes on well with you, hope you achieve what you're here for.
That's the kind of memory that we want to create for whoever visits Hainan and also for the local Hainan people.
I think maybe one of the most, if not the most important takeaway from an event like this, outside of the cool sports and outside of the exciting events, but just the opportunity for cultural exchanges, like you said, but more than just exchanging pins, which is a really nice thing, but the opportunity to learn.
And I'm thinking about these international athletes or international travelers who come to Sanya and who come to Hainan and don't really know anything about the city, don't know anything about the island itself.
And as we get close to the end of our discussion on this particular topic, I want to play a clip for you.
And I think this is a really good example of what can be learned because, as I was watching this on the news, I learned so much in a very short period of time.
This is from CGTN Sports Scene.
Just yesterday.
As a matter of fact, I believe the reporter's name is Shen Xiang and she's talking about the Li ethnic group that is native to Hainan.
Hi, everyone.
I'm right here at Bin Lang Valley Lee and Miao Cultural Tourism Zone in Hainan, a living museum that preserves the authentic culture of the Lee ethnic group.
Today, I'm going to take you on a journey to explore their time-honored folks' costumes.
Let's head inside.
We're currently outside a traditional Li's ethnic house.
Even though it's raining outside, the roof doesn't leak at all.
Many of the things inside are handmade by the Li people.
The Li people trace their roots to the ancient Luo Yue, a branch of China's Bai Yue tribes who migrated to Hainan as early as the late Neolithic period.
For thousands of years, the Lee people have nurtured their unique traditions on this tropical island.
Yeah, that's just a clip from a bigger report, but I wanted to share that because that's just such a great example of the fact that it's not just about the games.
It's an opportunity for the island and for the people to showcase who they are and what they offer.
And as I said before that clip, I had never heard of the Lee ethnic group before.
I didn't know that they were native to...
I didn't know about the types of housing that they used to live in.
I didn't know about their type of artistry.
And the clip goes on to explain more about that.
But that's what I mean.
It's just it's so much more than just the athletes.
But with that said, good luck to all of the athletes participating, Chinese and otherwise.
Great to hear that China is doing so well in all of the different events.
And I wonder, is anyone up for a spirited game of Kabaddi?
After work today?
I would like to watch one.
It's my new favorite sport.
I'm in the wrong shoes.
I don't know what kind of shoes you wear.
Yeah, once again, good luck to all the athletes.
All right.
