Over the past few years, fitness and health have become hot topics throughout China. Taking a look at the history of sports movements in Hainan, it can be seen that every era has had different habits and trends when it comes to what the people love.

Enduring Popularity: Volleyball, Dragon Boat Racing

When speaking of what sports are traditionally popular in Hainan, volleyball is perhaps one of the ones which most surprises outsiders.

Beginning in 1895 in the United States, the sport of volleyball quickly spread around the world. In the early years of the Republic of China, a cohort of men who had left Wenchang to study in places likeChina’sGuangzhouandHong Kongaswell asSoutheast Asia brought the trendy sport with them on their return to the island.

By 1920, the Wenchang Middle School volleyball team was able to win a national volleyball competition in Shanghai. These impressive results would be repeated again and again at the local and regional level off and on over the next half century with the Wenchang Middle School volleyball team’s 1964 win at the National Youth Nine-Player Volleyball Tournament igniting the local passion for the game and leading to volleyball courts being constructed in Haikou, Danzhou, Qionghai and other parts of the Island.

Starting two years ago, theWenchangVillageVolleyball Tournamenthas led to online popularity and an increase in spontaneous pickup games of increasingly impressive skill level.

A volleyball match inXitou Village,Meilan Districtin Haikou.(Photo: HainanDaily)

Like volleyball, dragon boat racing is also a long-standing traditional sport in Hainan. Held less frequently than volleyball games, dragon boat races are a more formal affair that often align with traditional holidays such as the second day of the second lunar month and the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.

Another difference between dragon boat racing and volleyball is how long it's been an integral part of the fabric is local society. First mentioned in the written record over 500 years ago, annual dragon boat races are held in Haikou, Sanya, Danzhou, and Wanning. TheDragon Boat Invitationalheld in downtown Haikoutocelebratethis year’sDragon Boat Festivalon June 10 welcomed 12 teams from all over the islandand tens of thousands of in-person spectators.

OnJune 10,incelebrationoftheDragon Boat Festival,aDragon Boat Invitationalwasheldin downtown Haikou.(Photo:HainanDaily)

Newly Hot: Breakdancing, football, basketball

After the start ofChina’sreform andopeningupinthe1970s,a number of sports previously unseen in China began to attract more and more attention.

Becoming an Olympic sport in 2024,breakdancing originated in New York in the 1970s. A type of highly personal street dance with a strong sports element, it was introduced to China with the release of the American movie "Breakin'"in the 1980s. In thesame decade, the breakdance scene in Hainan emerged as one of the country's leaders with dancers such as Wang Yishu and Yanzai becoming household names.

While it has never gotten back to the level of popularity it had in the 80s, breakdancing has remained a common sport in Hainan.

Breakdancer performing in Haikou.(Photo:ChenWang/Hinews)

In the 1990s, as Chinese standards of living improved, people started picking up new habits and sports. With international matches frequently being broadcast on domestic television, football was among these newly popular sports. Hainanese youth were like the rest of the country in following the European Championship and World Cup and it's no surprise that amateur football clubs began to form across the island.

TheChinese Football Association A Leaguewas officially founded in 1994. Now 52 years old, Haikou resident Chen Minglun still has stacks of posters of football stars from that period.

At the turn of the century Chinese basketball players Wang Zhizhi, Ba Te’er, Yao Ming, and Yi Jianlian were scouted by the US National Basketball Association ( NBA ). In igniting China's basketball passion, this was like throwing fuel on a fire.

Many students and young people started watching basketball games around this time. Pick-up games of basketball became a common sight in city parks and on campuses. Basketball fan and long time amateur player Ye Xiaoliang said: "When Yao Ming was playing in the NBA, even though I was in college. I watched every game I could.”

A night game of basketball in Haikou.(Photo:HainanDaily)

Niche sports: skateboarding, frisbee, surfing

Over the past three or four years, many once unpopular and niche sports such as skateboarding, frisbee, and surfing have become extremely trendy.

Landsurfing is a type of skateboarding that emulates the motions of surfing. Bidding farewell to the traditional skateboarding method of pushing against the ground with your feet, landsurfing relies instead on twisting the body to generate the forces that move the skateboard forward. It can be seen nightly on the beach, parks, and university campuses of Haikou.

Frisbee suddenly started trending in the latter half of 2021. Easy to do and not very competitive, men and women can play at the same time and team formation is sufficiently flexible.Frisbeehasnowbecome apopularsportsamong childrenandyoung people inHaikou.

A frisbee match in Haikou.(Photo:Hainan Daily)

Surfing used to be a niche sport, but it has rapidly become popular among common people with tourists visiting Hainan solely for surf holidays in places such as Sanya's Houhai Bay, Wanning's Riyue Bay, and Qingshui Bay in Lingshui. For many of the enthusiasts who gather in these places for months at a time, surfing has become a way of life.