MUSEUM
Orienteering Landscapes:
Orienteering Museum in Conghua, Guangdong, China FROM ORIEN.ASIA
Orienteering is a sport that’s officially over all seven continents of the world. China is one of the countries outside Europe where Orienteering is a major sport. And the first dedicated Orienteering museum in the world (*see note below) is now in Conghua, Guangzhou, China.
Blair Trewin examines maps at the Museum during 2019 World Cup.
The Province of Guangdong markets the South China Historical Trail as a cultural and historical experience that links the many heritage sites in the province together. The South China Historical Trail Orienteering event series links these places together through a fun and engaging outdoor sport, leading orienteers to explore the historical landscape of Guangdong. The museum presents worldwide Orienteering history with maps, news and other artefacts in Orienteering since 1984. Maps exhibited include high profile events such as World Orienteering Championships, World Masters Orienteering Championships, as well as O-Ringen in Sweden - the largest annual Orienteering event in the world.
The Orienteering Museum.
Separate sections in the museum explore deeper into Orienteering history in China, documenting the development of the sport through maps since the 1980s. Hong Kong is represented prominently in the collection as it’s from where Orienteering first spread into Mainland China. There are even maps of forest areas that, due to urban development, no longer exist.
Orienteering history comes alive in the Orienteering Museum The museum opened on 28 October 2019, during the Orienteering World Cup Finals in China. It uses a historical building in Wenquan Town, in Conghua District, Guangzhou. Wenquan means hot springs, and the area is famous for the rare sodium bicarbonate springs that makes it a popular holiday destination in China. The idea of the museum came as part of the South China Historical Trail Orienteering initiative. South China Historical Trail is a network of historical and cultural trails preserved from the various imperial dynasties of China since the Qin Dynasty (late 3rd century BC). Guangdong’s history is part of a larger cultural region in South China in which Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region of China adjacent but separate from Guangdong, is also part of, as seen from closely related languages such as Cantonese, Hakka and Teochew. 30 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2021
Badges from 1980s Orienteering in Hong Kong.
