A tourist enjoys archery at a facility in Hangping town. CHINA DAILY

Since 2016, Zhejiang has increased its total number of multifunction community sports fields to 877. Zhejiang also boasts 14 province-level and 156 community-level fitness centers and sports parks, 471 swimming pools and 471 soccer pitches. In addition, the local sports bureau is organizing more sports activities for people in rural areas.

Take Xiaozhang village of Pan'an county, for example. The village invested 2.2 million yuan (about $320,000) to build a sports stadium that covers an area of around 1,600 square meters. The stadium can host about 100 events a year, with the resulting influx of fans and tourists helping the village, whose population totals around 400, to generate an annual income of about 4-5 million yuan.

"Sports and fitness development will make life in rural areas more energetic. The sports fields in a village or a community are usually the favorite places of local people," Zheng added.