Competition venues for China's 15th National Games in China's Guangdong Province, Hong Kong, and Macao have been fully prepared, with just 30 days to go until the competitions begin.
The Games will be held from November 9 to 21 and co-hosted for the first time in its history by Guangdong and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao as a move to deepen coordinated development in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Competitions will feature 34 sports, 419 events, and 23 large-scale non-professional sports activities, held across 105 venues in the three regions.
Guangdong alone will stage 366 events in 16 host cities, including its capital Guangzhou, as well as Shenzhen and Zhuhai.
Numerous existing venues across Guangdong have been renovated and handed over for the Games, and five brand-new facilities have been completed and cleared for competition.
Among the newly-built venues is the equestrian arena, which has already impressed competing athletes.
"It's probably better than any facility I've seen in Europe. The facility is amazing, and the stables are really nice and comfortable for the horses. It would be a good venue," said Thomas Heffernan Ho, an equestrian athlete from Hong Kong.
Hong Kong will stage eight sports, among them fencing, beach volleyball and track cycling, with Kai Tak Sports Park, the Hong Kong Velodrome and Victoria Park doing the heavy lifting.
Organizers are now in the final sprint, expecting more than 4,000 entrants, including more than 2,100 athletes.
Macao is making its debut as a host, running four events -- women's volleyball, table tennis, 3×3 basketball and U-18 basketball. All arenas used for the Games in the region are existing ones that have already passed full operational testing, and preparations remain on course.
The National Games, held every four years, is China's highest level and largest national multi-sports event. The last edition in 2021 saw over 12,000 athletes compete in the northwestern province of Shaanxi.
Competition venues ready for China's 15th National Games
