A Hundred Years of China's Olympics

Author: Wang Xiaohua
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: In 1926, the Chinese National Sports Association decided to hold the 4th National Games from late May to early June. However, war always interfered with sports. The sound of gunfire from the Northern Expeditionary Army of the National Revolutionary Army and the smoke spreading across China obscured this sporting event. People shook their heads and said, "If sports could replace battlefield victories, how wonderful that would be! There would be no war." The Northern Expeditionary Army set off from Guangdong, cutting down enemies and capturing flags along the way. In the season of cool breezes, they occupied the three towns of Wuhan. This great battle to unify north and south ended only in June 1928, when the Northern Expeditionary Army reached Beijing and the Fengtian Warlord regime withdrew beyond the Great Wall. From then on, the Northern Expedition ended, and China entered the era of the Nanjing National Government led by Chiang Kai-shek.
Between 1929 and 1949, China held four more National Games. The 4th, 5th, and 6th Games were held in 1930, 1933, and 1935, respectively, before the War of Resistance, and the 7th Game was held in 1948 after the war. In 1929, the Chinese National Sports Association decided to hold the 4th National Games in October in Guangzhou, the birthplace of the Kuomintang. When the report reached Chiang Kai-shek, someone suggested that the National Government planned to hold the "West Lake Expo" in Hangzhou in 1930 and proposed postponing the National Games to coincide with the expo. This would not only boost the event's prestige but also save costs. Chiang Kai-shek thought it was a good idea, so the long-awaited 4th National Games was finally grandly opened in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, on April 1, 1930.