Recently, the news of "2023 China Zhenkang Myanmar Kokang Half Marathon Registration Open" has attracted widespread attention.
Since the venue is located on the border between China and Myanmar, some competitors are worried about whether the event will involve the Kokang region of Myanmar and whether there is a certain safety risk, "Will it run and run to Myanmar?" ”
Yang Yingbao, head of the office of the Zhenkang County Education and Sports Bureau in Lincang City, Yunnan Province, said in an interview with China Newsweek that the marathon is an event organized by the local government, and all events will be held in China, and there is no problem with the safety of the event.
He also said that because Zhenkang is a border city, some Myanmar athletes will come to participate in the competition, "they come through formal channels and ports, and they have passed the relevant legal procedures and qualification checks, and they can only participate without criminal records." ”
Zhenkang County. Photo/provided by interviewee
According to Yang Yingbao, the registration for the marathon is currently in order, and the on-site arrangement and the coordination of various departments have been prepared. At the same time, the local government will also arrange sufficient police forces to ensure the safety of the event.
"Although the location of the event is close to Myanmar, it is a friendly match to promote friendly borders." He said.
"The border is not so easy to cross"
Sun Cao, a young Shanghai-based man in Dali, Yunnan Province, who loves the outdoors on weekdays, told China Newsweek that he plans to sign up for the Zhenkang marathon with a few friends.
"I'm not a marathon lover, but I've never run a marathon at the border, and we're going to go and have a splash and take a stroll around Zhenkang by the way." Sun Cao said.
As for the security issues that the public is more concerned about, although he has some concerns, he believes that this is a small probability incident, "After living in Yunnan for a few years, it is still rare to be actually trafficked to Myanmar, and the border line is not so easy to cross." However, he still said that he would always walk with friends during his stay in Zhenkang to ensure that he was not left behind.
Yang Yingbao introduced that the marathon is actually a sub-event of the series of activities of the "Ashusser" Mountain Song Festival and Friendship Games in Zhenkang and Myanmar, China.
According to the "2023 China Zhenkang Myanmar Kokang "Ashusser" Mountain Song Festival and Friendship Games Schedule, the activity time starts on September 24 and ends on October 2, including basketball, football, air volleyball, millstone gyro marathon, crossbow shooting and other competitions, as well as mountain song fair, business and food exhibition, Zhenkang special dish evaluation, tourist attraction promotion, investment promotion meeting and other activities.
Yang Yingbao said that similar China-Myanmar friendship activities have been held for more than 10 sessions, and some conventional rules have also been formed, "this is not the first time, nor will it be the last."
As for the most watched marathon, it is also a new event this year, along with crossbow shooting. In fact, this is the first time that Zhenkang County has held a marathon.
According to the schedule, the marathon will be held on October 1, divided into a half-marathon of 21.0975 km and a mini-marathon of 5 km, and the registration fee for the competition is 100 yuan/person and 50 yuan/person respectively.
As can be seen from the route map of the race, the start and end of the half-marathon are located in the Nanumbrella Riverside Park next to the Zhenkang County People's Government, and the mini-marathon also starts from the Nanumbrella Riverside Park, but ends at the ring road, both in China.
Marathon route. Image source: "Extreme Bian Zhenkang" public account
Yang Yingbao said that although this is the first time that a local marathon event has been held, it has been fully prepared for a long time, and the local area is still fully confident in hosting the games.
As for security issues, Yang Yingbao stressed that the event was organized by the local government, and all events were held in China, and there was no security problem involving the Kokang region of Myanmar. He mentioned that there is a three-meter-high, six-kilometer-high barbed wire fence between Zhenkang and Myanmar, and the security of the border is beyond doubt.
Mr. Yang, who grew up in Zhenkang and had never heard of locals being trafficked to Myanmar, said most of the violations occurred in farther areas and left through illegal channels such as smuggling. "Zhenkang County has hosted more than ten China-Myanmar Friendship Games, and I have never heard of the disappearance of people due to the Games."
Yang Yingbao also said that in order to ensure the safety of the marathon, the local government has mobilized a large number of police forces. During the marathon, there will be a full closure along the race, and law enforcement officers will be on duty throughout the race.
It is understood that the registration period for this marathon is from 1 p.m. on September 12 to 1 p.m. on September 22. As of 20:00 on September 18, China Newsweek saw on the registration page that 255 people had signed up for the competition.
Expert: Different starting points will lead to different results
Liu Jiewu, a researcher at the Tourism Development Research Center of Shenzhen University, told China Newsweek that holding a border marathon has a positive impact on promoting China-Myanmar friendship and local economic development. In addition, this can also be seen as a kind of friendship manifestation of China's Belt and Road Initiative, providing opportunities for contacts and cooperation between the two countries.
"Although the current event is taking place in China, this event also lays the foundation for future China-Myanmar marathons, opening up the possibility of exchanges between the two countries." He said.
Zhenkang means "town guarding the border pass • happiness and well-being", the county seat Nanumbrella Town and Myanmar Kokang Yanglong Zhai a bridge, there is "boundary pillar in the city, the national gate in the city, one city connected to two countries".
In addition, because Zhenkang is adjacent to the "Golden Triangle" area, the national border is 96.358 kilometers long, and there is no natural barrier, so it is also known as the "most complex China-Myanmar border".
Relevant data show that Zhenkang County has a land area of 2,529 square kilometers, a total population of 172,900, and a GDP of 7.379 billion yuan in 2022.
According to Zhenkang's 2023 government work report, the county has problems such as low development quality, small total GDP, lower per capita GDP than the national, provincial and municipal averages, weak industrial competitiveness, inactive opening to Myanmar, open platforms are still in the initial stage of passing economy, heavy border tasks, strong border solid defense, and high pressure on border control.
Yang Yingbao told China Newsweek that they hope to use the event to bring a new atmosphere to the local cultural tourism industry, which in turn will boost the regional economic development.
Previously, at the event preparation scheduling meeting, Duan Shouhua, the magistrate of Zhenkang County, mentioned that through the series of activities of the China-Myanmar "Ashuse" Mountain Song Meeting and Friendship Games, give full play to the advantages of "border", further deepen China-Myanmar exchanges and cooperation, promote people-to-people exchanges and economic and trade exchanges between the two sides, build a cultural tourism brand in China-Myanmar border areas, and attract more tourists to Zhenkang.
According to Sun Xiaorong, an expert member of the China Tourism Reform and Development Advisory Committee, border tourism has gradually become a hot spot. For example, Yanji and Mohe in the northeast, Manzhouli in Inner Mongolia, Ili and Kashgar in Xinjiang, Ruili and Dongxing in Yunnan, and Chongzuo in Guangxi have become popular destinations for border tourism.
In addition, several provinces and regions in the southwest and northwest are jointly building the "G219 National Avenue" border tourism theme route, and Inner Mongolia is also making every effort to build a border style line.
But at the same time, he told China Newsweek that the current development of border tourism still faces certain development problems. The first is security, border tours are mainly self-driving tours and individual tourists, tourists have a high degree of freedom and flexibility, while many border areas lack tourism infrastructure and regulatory support. The second is the problem of accessibility, border areas are often sparsely populated, and there are blind spots in the accessibility of transportation, information, and supplies. The third is the experiential problem, the natural scenery and cultural integration of the border line are very high, but there is a lack of corresponding experience formats and service supplies, tourists are likely to simply check in, and the transformation of tourism economy in the border area is limited. Finally, there is the issue of bilateral interaction, at present, tourists in border areas are often only one-way sightseeing, and there is a lack of bilateral interaction.
Sun Xiaorong believes that Zhenkang Marathon emphasizes open international participation and enhances friendly exchanges between China and Myanmar through sports events, which can promote local governments to improve tourism destination infrastructure and related supporting and regulatory services in accordance with the concept of "host and guest sharing", and create an environment for cultural and tourism integration.
He believes that in addition to the event itself, Zhenkang also needs to support other cultural festivals, cultural activities and food and folklore, etc., to create a diversified experience consumption scene, form such events into a sustainable and normal participation experience atmosphere, attract more people to participate, optimize and transform the local image as a whole, and carry out all-round image display and marketing.
Sun Xiaorong said that the key is to clarify the purpose of the event, whether to hold the event for the sake of the event, or to stimulate the local service industry economy. He believes that these are two different logics, with different starting points and different results. "If the event serves the local economy, the more the merrier; If you only run an event for the sake of an event, the gains often outweigh the losses. ”
Qin Hui, a lawyer at Beijing DHH (Shanghai) Law Firm, told China Newsweek that on January 1 this year, the newly revised Sports Law came into force, providing legal protection for promoting sports and developing the sports industry.
According to the Law, organizers of sports events shall perform security obligations, provide safety conditions that meet requirements, formulate safeguard measures such as risk prevention and emergency response plans, and maintain the safety of sports events.
At the same time, he reminded that because this event is close to the China-Myanmar border, it is necessary to pay attention to whether anyone uses the event to sneak across the national (border) border.
Author: Chen Shulian
Source: China Newsweek