Tonglu, Zhejiang: Strong Asian Games Atmosphere in "Hometown of Express Delivery"

As the number on electronic countdown board for Hangzhou Asian Games getting smaller and smaller, Tonglu County, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China, known as the "Hometown of Express Delivery", has an increasingly strong atmosphere of Asian Games.

As one of the competition venues of Hangzhou Asian Games, the venue of Tonglu equestrian center has recently been completed. In early winter, the fiber sand field and cross-country trials of its main stadium have been preliminarily completed, and indoor decoration and greening upgrades are being carried out. "Currently, the construction of the core venue competition function has been officially launched, and further improvements will be made after experts' arrival. It is expected to be completed in early 2022." said Zhou Chen, deputy director of the Tonglu County Equestrian Management Committee.

The venue of Tonglu Equestrian Center [Photo by He Xiaohua]

The main stadium of the Equestrian Center [Photo by He Xiaohua]

Equestrian competition is a special and difficult event in the Asian Games. The prerequisite for its holding is to have an Equine Disease-free Zone for the horses in Tonglu. In July, 2019, Tonglu began the construction of the EDFZ. The administrative area at the north of the Fuchun River is designated as the EDFZ, approximately covering 1,300 square kilometers, accounting for 71% of Tonglu County.

At the same time, Tonglu has set up 4 animal health supervision and inspection points on the provincial highways connecting the EDFZ, running professional tests 24/7 on imported or transit equine animals, susceptible animals, and their products. Besides, three animal isolation sites have been built for the quarantine of equine and susceptible animals. In November 2021, Tonglu's EDFZ passed the national review.

Next, Tonglu will continue to focus on key fields including project construction, competition organization preparations, and urban construction improvement etc., striving to make equestrianism another "golden namecard" of Tonglu besides of the "hometown of express delivery" and "the most beautiful county in China". (Text by He Xiaohua)