Frisbee exists in Shanghai! Spurred on by my brother I went in search of an ultimate frisbee league to join in Shanghai and, lo', there was one! For most of the past 4 months I've spent my Monday nights at the Shanghai Workers Stadium chasing disks with a largely expat community of frisbee lovers.
We had a 10 week long season, with 4 teams in the league. Apparently we had a championship game, which my team won but I wasn't there for due to travel plans. It was just great to get out and run around and have fun. The players ranged from newbies learning the organized game for the first time to experts recently imported from top American university teams. The atmosphere was fun, yet competitive. Occasionally there'd be brushes and arguments, as frisbee players are wont to do, but the comradory of the team and the thrill of competition made up for any hard feelings anyone had. Basically everyone had fun.
The best players travel internationally to competitions all over South East Asia. Apparently Shanghai is a hotbed for good ultimate talent, along with Singapore and Manila. The teams meet regularly at tournaments throughout the year in those three cities, as well as Bangkok (when the airport isn't closed by protesters), Vietnam and Taiwan. It seems like a good fun rivalry.
I'm well pleased to have discovered these like minded individuals here. Although I foresee any lasting bonds and friends, simply having a temporary link to something from home, something so familiar, was nice for a while. I hope to play again next spring when the weather warms up.
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