Wuhan Open

We had three classes today, and when they finished at 4pm I headed for the nearest subway station. It was my first chance to take the subway 地铁, and it is a really easy and efficient way to travel around Wuhan. It cost 3 yuan to buy a little blue token that took me about ten stations to get to Optics Valley Square Station 光谷广场站.

Optics Valley is Wuhan’s attempt to create a hotbed of innovation (à la Silicon Valley) around photoelectron and laser technology. There are 18 universities in the area and nearly 10000 businesses based around that technology. I had expected something a bit newer and cleaner looking, but most of it looked the same as everywhere else in Wuhan, although there seemed to be an even higher amount of construction activity there. All looked the same that is, until I stumbled into something which I think is called World Streets. This is a massive area of new buildings – I think nine large blocks – that are packed full of shops and restaurants up to 5 floors all the way through. There are three parts to it: first I walked into Spain Style Street (which is really a number of street blocks), then Italian Style Street, and finally German Style Street. I think they are building France Style Street in a construction area further along. It was such a bizarre bazaar. I kept walking through, thinking it would end soon, but it just kept on going with weirder and weirder things. Statues of flamenco dancers, gondoliers and then German beer drinkers. But if you look back above the beer drinking statues there is a giant animatronic dinosaur swinging its head and tail about. Get down to the end of the block, and there is a jumbo jet in the plaza. I think it’s actually a restaurant. It was yet another completely unexpected experience in China.

From there I took a taxi to the Wuhan Open, at the Wuhan Tennis Centre 武汉网球赛中心. This is a massive complex with impressive stadiums and facilities. Tonight though, not many crowds. I saw an advertisement on television last night for the Wuhan Open. When I looked it up I realised it is one of five major events on the women’s tour, aside from the Grand Slams. 16 of the world’s top 18 players are in Wuhan at the moment, which seems really strange. Sam Stosur is seeded 16th and played tonight. I couldn’t coax anyone else to come with me, but I also didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to see her play. I caught the end of Daria Gavrilova’s match with Jelena Jankovic (she lost 6-2 6-2) and then watched Sam’s game in the main stadium. I was the only non-Chinese that I could see, except for the players’ support teams. Chinese people are usually so noisy in public places, but it was eerily quiet throughout the match, with only gentle clapping and no calling out. It was the quietest tennis match I’ve ever been to. Sam played Caroline Wozniacki and she didn’t play well. She lost 6-3 6-2, which was quite disappointing.