TIANJIN, China (Reuters Life!) – Asia’s first ever snow polo tournament went into its second day on Wednesday at China’s newest and largest polo club, with six top global teams promoting the luxury sport to the nation’s new and growing ranks of wealthy.

Though an early form of polo was once popular with China’s upper classes during the Tang dynasty more than a thousand years ago, the sport of kings died out almost entirely until a recent surge of interest in foreign sports seen as being high class.

The first generations of new wealthy spawned by China’s economic reforms are likely to view golf, red wine and Ferrari as symbols of prestige, but many of the newer generation are looking for something more.

“We have so many international players from all over the world coming together in this area,” Chevy Beh, a 23-year-old player on the Hong Kong team, told Reuters Television.

“I think that is a good way to promote polo in China.” The “Snow Polo Challenge,” which kicked off on Tuesday, is being held on a pitch covered with artificial snow in the Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club in Tianjin, an industrial port city 90 minutes drive from Beijing.
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TIANJIN

ASIA’S first snow polo tournament went into its second day yesterday at China’s newest and largest polo club, with six top global teams promoting the luxury sport to the nation’s new and growing ranks of wealthy.

Though an early form of polo was once popular with China’s upper classes during the Tang dynasty more than a thousand years ago, the sport of kings died out almost entirely until a recent surge of interest in foreign sports seen as being high class.

The first generations of new wealthy spawned by China’s economic reforms are likely to view golf and Ferrari as symbols of prestige, but many of the newer generation are looking for something more.

“We have so many international players from all over the world coming together in this area,” Chevy Beh, a 23-year-old player on the Hong Kong team, told Reuters Television.
(more…)