The Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena, also known as Qi Zhong stadium, is an arena

Arena

An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the...

 in Shanghai

Shanghai

Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

, People's Republic of China.
The complex is located on an 80-hectare

Hectare

The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

 area, in the southwest of Shanghai, the Minhang District

Minhang District

The Minhang District of Shanghai has a land area of 371.57 km2 and population of 2,429,000 residents as of 2010.It is mostly a residential district, though it is also home to some of the many factories and production facilities in Shanghai. Residential housing development is the main source of...

.

It has a steel roof with eight sliding petal-shaped pieces (moved in 8 minutes) which resembles a blooming magnolia

Magnolia

Magnolia is a large genus of about 210 flowering plant species in the subfamily Magnolioideae of the family Magnoliaceae. It is named after French botanist Pierre Magnol....

, Shanghai's city flower. The roof enables the stadium to host both indoor and outdoor tennis events. The seating capacity is 15,000 people.
The stadium was specially created to host the ATP World Tour Finals between 2005

2005 Tennis Masters Cup

The 2005 Tennis Masters Cup was a tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the 36th edition of the year-end singles championships, the 31st edition of the year-end doubles championships, and was part of the 2005 ATP Tour...

 - 2008

2008 Tennis Masters Cup

The 2008 Tennis Masters Cup was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 39th edition of the year-end singles championships, the 34th edition of the year-end doubles championships, and part of the 2008 ATP Tour...

, and was the largest tennis venue in Asia, until the construction of the Olympic Green Tennis Centre

Olympic Green Tennis Centre

The Olympic Green Tennis Center or Beijing Olympic Green Tennis Court , is a tennis centre located in the Olympic Green. It opened on 1 October 2007...

 in Beijing

Beijing

Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

.

From 2009, it will host the ATP World Tour Masters 1000

ATP World Tour Masters 1000

The ATP World Tour Masters 1000 is a series of nine tennis tournaments that are part of the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, held annually throughout the year in Europe, North America and Asia...

, a new ATP Masters Series tournament. It also served as one of the venues used for the NBA

National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

's Cleveland Cavaliers

Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers are a professional basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They began playing in the National Basketball Association in 1970 as an expansion team...

 and Orlando Magic

Orlando Magic

The Orlando Magic is a professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association and are currently coached by Stan Van Gundy...

 during their tour of China in 2007.

Stadium features

The Tennis Centre covers a total area of 338,836 square meters, of which 85,000 square meters are made up of structures. The volume rate is 0.187, the building density 15.1%, green/open space 46.1%, with parking capacity of 993 parking spaces.

• The center court stadium spans 30,649 square meters. It has four floors, for a total height of 40 m (131-ft) above ground level. The center court is covered by a steel roof with eight petal-shaped pieces (each petal weighs two tons) which resemble a magnolia, Shanghai's city flower. The opening of the roof represents the blooming of a magnolia flower.

• The roof takes eight minutes to completely open or close.

• The stadium can be adapted for other international events such as basketball (as in 2007), volleyball, ping pong, or gymnastics.

During the ATP World Tour Finals event, there was a retail zone, with the public eating/drinking areas outside the stadium.

History

The stadium is located in Ma Qiao Town in southwest Shanghai, the Minhang District

Minhang District

The Minhang District of Shanghai has a land area of 371.57 km2 and population of 2,429,000 residents as of 2010.It is mostly a residential district, though it is also home to some of the many factories and production facilities in Shanghai. Residential housing development is the main source of...

. The Shanghai Municipal Commission of Construction and Administration requested international bids in 2003, for building the stadium.

The winning bid was submitted by Japanese architect Mitsuru Senda and his company Environment Design Institute (EDI), an architectural and landscape firm specializing in children's environments including schools, museums, hospitals, sports facilities, parks, play structures, daycare centers, and housing.

EDI had designed sports stadiums in Japan, including the Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Centre and the Tokoname Municipal Gymnasium. Mr. Senda, a former President and now honorary member of the Architectural Institute of Japan

Architectural Institute of Japan

The Architectural Institute of Japan, or AIJ, is a Japanese professional body for architects, building engineers, and researchers in architecture....

, established EDI in 1968 with a design philosophy to adapt comprehensive planning along with the layout of the environment.

Each leaf, of the roof, was constructed on the ground beforehand. The method of testing each leaf on the ground was similar to that used by China Aerospace, where each roof piece must pass a test, before it can be elevated to its position for final installation.

Other companies involved in the center's construction include:

• China Construction Third Bureau - construction contractor
• Jiangnan Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. - steel infrastructure
• Shanghai Mechanical Construction Co., Ltd. - roof construction

There will be a total of 40 tennis courts when Phase 2 is completed (Centre Court Stadium, 3 small indoor stadiums, 14 indoor courts and 22 outdoor courts).

See also

• Tennis in China
  Tennis in China
  Tennis in China is a rapidly growing sport that has received much private and public support, and has today become firmly entrenched in the Chinese consciousness as one of the most popular. Tennis is now the third-most popular sport on television in China, behind Association football and basketball...
  
  
• List of world's most expensive single objects
• Wikimapia