F1 Chinese Grand Prix draws 220,000 spectators

The Chinese Grand Prix, a key stop in the Formula One World Championship, wrapped up in Shanghai on Sunday, with attendance reaching around 220,000 spectators, according to the event operator.

The Shanghai event marks the second race of the 24-race Formula One season. Since its debut in the Chinese metropolis in 2004, the F1 Chinese Grand Prix has become a globally recognized sporting event and a significant highlight on the city's sports calendar. As this year coincides with the 75th anniversary of F1, the event drew massive interest.

Outside the event venue, a 32,000-square-meter area was transformed into a free, one-stop automotive culture experience for the public. The venue featured car displays, interactive zones, music stages, and food stalls, offering diverse activities for fans and families alike.

In addition, the Shanghai Jiading District, where the race venue is located, also holds the Shanghai Automobile Culture Festival simultaneously, introducing themed tourism routes and promotional packages combining race tickets with hotelstays and local attractions.

"During the F1 Chinese Grand Prix this year, spending on dining, accommodation, transportation, and entertainment reached a new high. The occupancy rate of major mid-to-high-end hotels in Jiading averaged over 95 percent," said Jin Fen, Deputy Director of the Jiading District Culture and Tourism Bureau.

According to event organizers, 10 percent of the spectators were international visitors, 20 percent were locals of Shanghai, and 70 percent traveled from across China.

"I've been in China (for) two months. I was traveling around. I love it. Shanghai is amazing," said a Russian visitor.

"I come from Jingdezhen City in Jiangxi Province. I've been watching the games for three days," said a Chinese boy.

"I arrived on Friday [to] visit the city, visiting several places like Zhujiajiao, Suzhou and the center of Shanghai," said a visitor from Italy.

Yang Yibin, chairman of the F1 Chinese Grand Prix operating team, highlighted the event's broader impact.

"The three-day event attracted approximately 220,000 spectators. Shanghai has established a coordinated mechanism integrating culture, sports, commerce, tourism, and exhibitions. For major events like this one, it is important to make good use of this mechanism to promote consumption and drive economic growth," he said.

F1 Chinese Grand Prix draws 220,000 spectators

Space-bred cranberry seedlings, carried into space aboard multiple missions and nurtured through two years of greenhouse breeding and acclimatization, have begun field transplantation at a plantation in northeast China.

The seedlings were carried into space aboard China's Shenzhou-14, Shenzhou-16 and Shijian-19 missions. After returning to Earth, they underwent a rigorous two-year period of greenhouse breeding and acclimatization before being transferred to open fields for large-scale management and monitoring. Now, they are being planted in fields in Fuyuan, Heilongjiang Province.

Cheng Zhengxin, a technical engineer at the plantation, explained the meticulous transplantation procedures needed to safeguard the delicate seedlings' superior traits and maximize their survival rates in the open fields.

"Now is the ideal season for transplantation. We are moving the space-bred cranberry seedlings from greenhouses into open fields for large-scale management. During the process, we must keep the original roots and soil intact without damaging the root systems or branches. After transplantation, timely watering is needed to keep the soil moist but without water accumulation," she said.

Regarding the future direction of the breeding program, the plantation's general manager Li Feng explained the vision for domestic cultivation.

"The seedlings we are working with come from our space breeding program and radiation simulation experiments conducted with the Harbin Institute of Technology. In the future, we will continue field observation and variety comparison experiments to cultivate cranberry varieties suitable for growing in China and help fill the gap in domestic cranberry germplasm resources," he said.

Cranberries used to be sourced mainly from North America, but Fuyuan City has made breakthroughs since 2014 in the production of cranberries via cooperation among the government, companies, research institutions and colleges. Once deserted experimental fields in the city have been transformed into the biggest planting base for cranberries in China. Recent years saw Fuyuan further extending the industrial chain of cranberries to enrich the product line ranging from juice and ice cream to beer and cosmetics, which now serves as a major cash cow to the local economy.

Space-bred cranberry seedlings transplanted into fields in northeast China