A five-a-side football tournament, fitness check-ups, folk sports games and other activities were held in different municipalities, provinces and autonomous regions, including Shanghai, Inner Mongolia, Henan and Liaoning. In Guangzhou, the host of next year's Asian Games, thousands of citizens jogged together to greet the inaugural National Fitness Day and to welcome the Asiad.

Speaking outside the National Stadium, Liu Peng, Minister of the State General Administration of Sport (SGAS), said setting August 8 as the National Fitness Day is the best commemoration of China's Olympic Games. Xu Haifeng, who won the first-ever Olympic gold medal for China in 1984 in shooting, proposed that all Chinese exercise at least one hour every day. Several International Olympic Committee officials attended the ceremony.

The proposal to establish August 8 as a National Sports Festival was made at the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in March 2008. China's State Council renamed it National Fitness Day and approved the idea this January, not only to mark the anniversary of the Olympic Games but also to advertise the social value of sport and to encourage all citizens to get involved.

In 1995, the State Council promulgated the Outline of the National Fitness Program. With an emphasis on young people and children, the National Fitness Program aims to improve the health and physical condition of the general population. Officials are encouraging everyone to engage in at least one sporting activity every day, learn at least two ways of keeping fit and get a health examination every year.

The government aims to build a sport and physical fitness system for the general public in the next 15 years. The goals of the National Fitness Program are to get about 40 percent of China's population participating in regular physical exercise by 2010. Officials want to see a clear improvement in Chinese physiques and intend to increase the number of fitness sites to satisfy public needs.

The SGAS has earmarked nearly 300 million yuan ($44.1 million) to establish 157 fitness centers and 41 outdoor sports bases nationwide. The country has injected over 5.2 billion yuan ($764.7 million) to build 177,100 sports grounds for farmers around China.

Sheng Zhiguo, Director of the Mass Sport Department of the SGAS, told Xinhua News Agency, "The National Fitness Day is the festival for all the ethnic groups during which the people enjoy their lives through working out. Setting up National Fitness Day, which is another significant measure to promote the National Fitness Program, reflects the great importance attached by the Chinese Government to the quality of health and life, and the all-around development of the people."

A year after topping the gold medal tally with a record 51 titles at the Olympics, China still has a long way to go to reach its goal of being a "sporting power" as it lags far behind in some athletic competitions and also in engaging more citizens in sports.