Meet Shaoxing: The ancient city welcomes the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup with its rich history and state-of-the-art Shaoxing Baseball Softball Cultural Center

When the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup 2024 takes place at the Shaoxing Baseball Softball Culture Center in China from 6-19 September the best of age-group international baseball will take place in a venue for the future, located in a city with a rich story to tell from the past.

The Historical City of Shaoxing

Established as the capital city of Yue State more than 2,500 years ago (490 B.C.), Shaoxing is one of the oldest cities in China and one of the most culturally enriched communities in eastern China. Situated on the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay in the northeastern Zhejiang province, China, Shaoxing has a population of 5.27 million, with nearly three million people in the metropolitan area on the south bank of the Qiantang River estuary.

Shaoxing is known for its dense networks of rivers and lakes, where black awning boats are still one of the most popular means of transportation. Due to the number of rivers and waterways, Shaoxing is also known as a “country of bridges”. More than seven hundred ancient bridges are still in use, with more than 10 of them having existed for over one thousand years. In 2013, the government appointed 12 ancient bridges to the National Key Cultural Relic Protection list.

Shaoxing is also proud of its rice wine, “Shao Wine,” which ismade from pure water from Jianhu-Mirror Lake. The brewery utilizes a naturalprocess to produce wine with a unique flavor known nationally andinternationally. Shao wine is used as a liquor as well as in cooking, and canbe made into popsicles, which are very popular in summer.

In addition to the Shao Wine, Shaoxing is also known for its Meigan Cai (dry pickled Chinese mustard, cabbage, rape, and Chinese cabbage), which is frequently cooked with pork. Stinky tofu, which featured in the documentary “A Bite of China,” is also a famous local cuisine.

Notable Residents of Shaoxing

Wang Xizhi, arguably the most famous Chinese calligrapher in the history of China, made his name in Shaoxing after composing the famous “Preface of Orchid Pavilion Gathering” in 353 A.D. Wang also left many calligraphy in Shaoxing, with many important collections being displayed in the Orchid Pavilion Calligraphy Museum.

Shaoxing is also the ancestral home of the first Premier of thePeople’s Republic of China, Zhou Enlai. It is also the home of modern Chineseliterature writer, critic, lecturer, translator, poet, designer, and stateservant Lu Xun. Cai Yuanpei, the Chinese philosopher and politician who wasinfluential in the history of modern Chinese education, the president of PekingUniversity, and the founder of the Academia Sinica, is also a Shoaxing native.

In 1982, the General Office of the State Council of the People’sRepublic of China awarded Shaoxing the status of National Historical andCultural City, along with 23 other cities, as the “State-list famous historicaland culture cities.”

In 2008, Shaoxing was awarded the United Nations Habitat Scrollof Honor.

Shaoxing Baseball Softball Culture Center

The 160,000-square-meter Shaoxing Baseball Softball Culture Center was built for the Asian Games 2022 Hangzhou. The state-of-the-art facility is the largest baseball-softball complex in China, with artificial turf, LED lighting, and a video board in all fields.

The Centre has two international-standard baseball fields and two international-standard softball fields. The multifunctional facility also includes an indoor arena with multi-use courts, a swimming pool, a rooftop soccer field in an adjacent building, and a hotel specifically designed to allow large-scale tournaments to be held on the site.

The architectural project is headed by the Hangzhou-based UADArchitectural Office, which specializes in educational, cultural, and sportsarchitecture. The design statement states, “The design draws inspiration fromthe artistic conception and textile culture of Shaoxing Water Town, showing aunique idea that fits the region.” “The architectural facade extractscurvilinear elements from traditional cultural symbols such as silk belts,scrolls, and tile roofs, and uses curved perforated aluminum plate material tocreate the image of Jiangnan with continuous waves.”

The baseball stadiums have spacious locker rooms, dugouts, indoor batting cages and indoor bullpens, among other international-standard function rooms for baseball, media and broadcasting operations. The first field seats 5,000 spectators, while the second field accommodates 2,500.

Twenty-five baseball games were held in the Shaoxing Baseball Stadium during the Asian Games Hangzhou 2022, and the facility has been praised by participating teams and international officials.

During the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup 2024, fifty games will be held on both fields starting 6 September, with the world championship game on 15 September 2024.