Beijing New YearWalk 2016, known as “From Beijing to the World in 2022”, and the LaunchingCeremony of Chaoyang International Long Walk, jointly organised by the ChaoyangDistrict Government and Beijing Walking Association (BWA), took place on thesouthern square of the Olympic Forest Park on the morning of January 9, 2016.

The event wasattended by senior officials, namely Zhao Jiaqi, former honorary president ofBWA; Shi Shaojie, President of BWA; Song Guilun, Secretary of the CPC Beijing SocialWork Commission; Huang Shisong, Deputy Secretary-General of the StandingCommittee of Beijing Municipal People’s Congress; Wang Shuxian, BeijingIntellectual Property Inspector; Chang Yu, Secretary of Beijing MunicipalCommission of the Communist Youth League; Zhao Wei, Deputy Director of BeijingOlympic City Development Centre; Guo Wenjie, Deputy Secretary of BeijingMunicipal Commission of the Communist Youth League; Wu Guiying, Secretary of CPCChaoyang District Committee; Wang Hao, Acting Head of the Chaoyang District Government;He Ming, Standing Member and Head of Organisation Department of ChaoyangDistrict Committee; Liu Junsheng, Standing Member and Head of PublicityDepartment of Chaoyang District Committee; Huang Xiaowei, Deputy Head of the ChaoyangDistrict Government; and Ma Haiying, Director of Beijing Chaoyang Bureau ofSports. Moreover, Olympic champion Wang Liping, walking expert Lei Dianshengand fitness expert Zhao Zhixin also attended the event.

ChaoyangInternational Long Walk is a key event of the “One District One Brand” initiativeof Chaoyang District in 2016. About 3,000 people participated in the event,including members and representatives from different sub-branches of BWA; sub-industrialassociations, including finance, health and family planning and law; juniorchamber; and Capital Media Walking Team. The ten-kilometre-long walk created anambient atmosphere in the capital for welcoming the beginning of the 13thFive-Year Plan. Moreover, it promoted the scheduled holding of the 2022 Olympicand Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing, while fully showcasing the remarkable achievementsof Chaoyang District Committee and the Chaoyang District Government in thefields of economy, politics, culture, people’s livelihood and socialdevelopment. The health-loving, sports-loving, life-loving and nature-lovingspirit of the people of Chaoyang was also highlighted at the event.

The ChaoyangDistrict Government has placed great emphasis on sports in recent years. Withan aim to improve people’s livelihood and serving them, the government hasimplemented several measures, such as offering quality sports venues andservices along with scientific means for fitness training. Based on the core objectiveof “happy people, healthy Chaoyang”, the district government has thoroughlyimplemented theFitness for AllRegulations to continuously meet the growing spiritual and cultural demandsof the people. It has been working for achieving breakthroughs in the developmentof “branded events, entity-based associations and professional training”. Ithas been insisting on perfecting “mass-oriented” work patterns, while buildingpublic-service systems for Fitness forAll. For such purposes, it initiated “15-minute fitness circles” to extensivelyactualise the basic features of mass sport, including “physical fitness, mentalhealth, neighbourliness and companionability”. This is how it has been workingfor a comprehensive development of people and promotion of social harmony. “Physicalhealth is essential for a prosperous life” is gradually becoming a socialconsensus as fitness training becomes a self-motivated action among the public.Furthermore, alongside the harmonious development of mass sports, competitivesports and the sports industry at large, communal public sports service systemshave been put in place and public fitness facilities can be found everywhere.

Four validation points werepositioned along the event route for the event participants to collect theirrespective four fitness bands, which they had to present at the finishing lineto receive a certificate from BWA and BeijingChaoyang Bureau of Sports.