拉萨市人民体育场

Lhasa People's Stadium on Jiangsu Road in Chengguan District dates from 1960 and was the first modern sports facility built in the city. It began modestly, with a athletics track, a grass football pitch and a few basketball courts, and was enlarged and renovated several times as stands, lighting and support buildings were added. For decades it has been the main stage for football and mass sport in Lhasa, and its grass pitch is still one of the city's principal football grounds. On 18 August 1999 the stadium hosted the opening ceremony of the 6th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities, the largest multi-sport event the venue has staged. Sitting between the old town and the Jiangsu Road neighbourhood at about 3,650 metres above sea level, it offers the thin air and strong sunlight of a classic high-altitude home ground, where the ball travels faster and players tire sooner than at sea level. The stadium now connects with neighbouring schools, government compounds and community fitness facilities, and is open to residents free of charge or at low cost, with early mornings and evenings busy with runners, footballers and circle dances. As the starting point of organised sport in Lhasa, it is treated locally as the origin of the city's sporting memory and remains essential to any account of modern sport in Tibet. The ground also hosts school sports days, district tournaments and festival gatherings, and its open setting keeps it in use from dawn until dusk. Its history mirrors the growth of organised sport across the plateau, from a bare pitch to a venue used by national and provincial teams for high-altitude training.