Between 4:30 and 6 PM is sports time and you will see many staff and students engaged in various activities. Generally none of these are formally organised you just turn up and join in any activity you fancy. This took a bit of getting used to but now we both do some sort of sport most days. If you want to run you can either go round the track (open to 7 PM) or out the back of the campus and along the mountain tracks.  Under the Gymnasium is an indoor running track, table tennis, badminton, a weights gym, and many different dances, tai chi, tai kwoon do, etc. classes. In the evening people often ballroom dance on the steps in front of the gymnasium (picture right).

 

Generally speaking the sports are not competitive, people just play football or table tennis without counting the score. However there are some staff competitions organised which you will have to ask your department about if you want to join in. There is a basketball competition in October, a football competition in November and a staff athletics day also in November.

 

 

 

Other hobbies such as photography and calligraphy can be pursued by joining the relevant student society. There is one day in October when the societies advertise themselves but if you ask about it is normally possible to join in without joining at the start of the semester.

 

If you play golf, there is an excellent course in Gao Yao. It is very expensive to play at the weekend but often runs good deals during the weekdays to attract local people. You can hire clubs there if you don’t have any.

 

There are tennis courts on campus for which the charge is usually 10-15RMB ah hour. They also have tennis rackets and balls available for hire.