Guangzhou and the Pearl River Delta

We are delighted to return to one of the spiritual homes of world badminton, Guangzhou, for the inaugural HSBC BWF World Tour Finals.

Located in the south of China, on the northern rim of the Pearl River Delta, Guangzhou has established itself as a proud badminton city with an ever-growing passion for the sport.

Given badminton’s prominence in the Guangdong Province with eight former world champions, two Olympic champions and millions of people learning and playing badminton daily, it is only fitting that this great city will stage our season-ending finale for the next four years.

Guangzhou has previously hosted the 2013 World Championships, 2009 Sudirman Cup and 2002 Thomas & Uber Cups and is well prepared to welcome the much-anticipated HSBC BWF World Tour Finals to its spectacular Tianhe Gymnasium.

Here’s some other interesting facts you may not know about Guangzhou:

• Guangzhou is the third largest city in China after Beijing and Shanghai. Spanning 7,434km², it would take 90,946,905 badminton courts to fill the area.
• Guangzhou is home to China’s oldest mosque. The Huaisheng Mosque was built in 627.
• Guangzhou has been China’s capital on three separate occasions. First, from 1925 to 1927, then for a few months in 1931 and for another two months in 1949.
• The city is also known as the ‘City of Flowers’, with its flora enjoying year-round bloom.
• Canton Tower is the second tallest tower and fourth-tallest freestanding structure in the world at 604 metres.
• Guangzhou hosted the 16^th Asian Games in November 2010 – 9,704 athletes from 45 countries competed in 476 events.
• Guangzhou has more restaurants than any other Chinese city. Given its status as the birthplace of Cantonese cuisine, you will never go hungry!

The HSBC BWF World Tour Finals is the signature event of the season for which only the cream of the crop qualifies.

The top eight qualifiers in all five categories – Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles – will compete for the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals Trophy, inspired by the Canton Tower itself.

Players will be competing for a total prize pool of US$1.5 million.

Read more here.