Residents practice on badminton courts at the park yesterday.
Expats who visited the Shekou Cultural and Sports Park in Nanshan District gave a thumbs-up to the new facility, which officially opened to the public yesterday after six years of construction.
“Finally!” said Russian Sergey Saanishvili, who added that he is most interested in the park’s badminton courts and swimming pool. A quality assurance engineer for consumer electronics, Saanishvili has been in Shenzhen for 14 years.
Living just one Metro station away from the new facility, Saanishvili said, “I used to pass by this place every day on my bike ride to the office. I’ve witnessed the transformation of this complex from a construction site a few years ago.”
Sharin, an Israeli stay-at-home mother, is also excited about the new park. “I’ve been eagerly awaiting its opening for years,” she said, adding that she has longed for a standard swimming pool in Shekou since moving there three years ago.
Only a five-minute walk from her home, Sharin also wants to check out the basketball courts and soccer fields for her children.
Emmanuelle Williamson, from France, said that she will visit the park on weekends to play badminton with her husband, who works for Huawei. The couple has lived in Shenzhen for nearly nine years.
Also a swimming fan, Williamson said, “Now I get to swim in our own neighborhood.” Before the park opened, she had to travel to the Nanyou area to swim, which was not as convenient.
Located at the northwest corner of the Houhaibin Road and Zhaoshang Road East intersection, the sports park is easily accessible from Metro Line 2’s Wanxia Station.
With an area of 6,750 square meters, the state-of-the-art complex includes facilities for indoor surfing, rock climbing, squash, swimming, soccer, basketball, and badminton. The park also features cultural amenities including a dancing room, a symphony orchestra training center, and a bookstore stocked with books in English.