Course Walks ‘Round the World: Eventing at China’s Student (Youth) Games

A beautifully decorated cross country awaits! Photo via Hong Kong Equestrian Federation.

Eventing in every region of the world has its own flavor. We’re fairly accustomed to the styles and look/feel of the cross country tracks in the U.S., UK, and Europe — but what about the tracks that have been meticulously built and decorated in other parts of the world?

I thought it might be a fun venture to highlight some of these courses here on EN. Most of what we source will come from CrossCountryApp — which, if you’re looking for a great rabbit hole to dive down, has a wide variety of international course maps — but let’s kick things off with the course at China’s Student (Youth) Games, which are underway in Nanning, China. Nanning is located in southern China, near the Vietnam border.

According to a news release, the Student (Youth) Games are “born out of the fusion of the National Youth Games and the National Student Games. This strategic move seeks to dismantle the barriers that separate the sports and education sectors, streamlining and refining the system of youth sporting events. In previous years, China used to organize campus and professional youth sports competitions separately, creating a dilemma for many students who had to choose between their studies and pursuing a career in sports.”

You can take a look at the cross country course designed by Sun Zhijian below or in the Facebook post from Hong Kong Equestrian Federation here.

The course, as you can see in the map below, twists and turns on itself to take advantage of a smaller space. It’s also been beautifully decorated with inviting fences and questions.

Best of luck to all riders competing, and Go Eventing!