Bognor Birdman in China

Representatives of the International Bognor Birdman attended the second Chinese Birdman Competition which was held on 15th September 2007 in Hunan Province in south central China.

IBB committee members Jenny and Anne joined Tony Hughes, joint winner of the 2006 Bognor Birdman event, as guests of e-tv at this colourful 3 hour live television programme screened across three provinces of southern China. The contestants came from all over China having competed in heats to gain their place and were joined by three foreign entrants.

The Chinese Birdman competition has taken the Bognor Birdman as the model for their event and recognises it as the original and oldest Birdman competition in the world. Lou Ming visited Bognor Regis to meet the IBB Chairman earlier this year.

On arrival at the airport in Changsha, Jenny and Anne were met by a film crew and interviewed for the e-tv news. They then went to visit the hotel and holiday complex, Shiyanhu Lake Park, where the Birdman preparations were underway with several competitors building their craft with advice and assistance from Tony, who had arrived three days earlier.

After a one night stay in Changsha at the fabulous Jade Palace Hotel situated in the Mooncake International Conference Centre they journeyed north for three and a half hours in a minibus with the television crew (technicians, cameramen and presenters) over mainly unmetalled roads to Pingjiang District the area of the venue for the Birdman competition.

Their hotel was situated in a small town where the inhabitants are not used to seeing foreign faces, especially European ones, and they were constantly greeted and closely inspected by all the locals - children and adults alike. Similarly the hotel was not geared up for the needs of British travellers. The cuisine in this area included Goats Head Soup, horns and all, and fish heads soup as well as some good basic Chinese fare with lots of different vegetables and peppers.

 

The day of the competition dawned with beautiful weather (32 degrees and rising) but unfortunately no wind. The competition was held on a lake within a horseshoe shape of beautiful mountains in a remote area called Shiniuzhai (Stone Ox Village). Included in a spectacular opening ceremony, and in front of thousands of spectators, Jenny and Anne presented the first competitor with a commemorative Bognor Birdman badge and wished him luck with an embrace. All the other 30 Chinese Birdman competitors were given a similar badge after their performance.

The competitors were a mixture of serious and comic entries in the same way as the Bognor Birdmen. Due to the lack of wind and the lack of height of the platform, the serious flyers were unable to achieve great distances and the winner reached 24.5 metres. Using a borrowed glider, Tony brought the programme to it's conclusion with a demonstration flight which was described as 'beautiful' by the Chinese commentators.

The TV company ensured that their stay in China was a memorable one by arranging for Jenny, Anne, Tony and his partner Jane to accompany a Chinese coach tour for three days to the National Forest Park, Zhangjiajie, where they saw some fabulous and unforgettable scenery, including the Number 1 Natural Bridge and vast caves, as well as enjoying the company of the Chinese tourists.

This adventure has forged some very strong links with our friends in China which we hope will mean that we shall see some of them here in Bognor Regis in 2008.

 

 

 

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