Department of Information and Tourism, Taipei City Government

The long-awaited Songshan Sports Center opened its doors to the public on November 1. The city government also introduced a new card integrated with the center’s radio frequency identification (RFID) system, allowing the card bearer to keep track of records such as class attendance and purchase data.
Hau pointed out that as of August 2009, the number of users utilizing the eight city district sports centers surpassed the 25 million mark. This shows that the residents of Taipei are keen at exercising and the centers are ideal locations for workouts.
According to city statistics, the average number of users per month grew from 602,000 individuals in 2008 to 720,000 in 2009, showing a substantial increase within a year’s time.
The appearance of the ninth city sports center resembles a whale. The symbol of the center, which is also a whale, reflects the special feature of the center – a focus on water sports. In addition to the standard fitness room and multi-purpose classrooms, there are also two swimming pools in the center – a 25-meter pool for regular use and a 50-meter pool used for sports such as water polo, water ballad, and diving.
Located in close proximity to both the Taipei Arena and Taipei Stadium, the mayor refers to the Songshan Sports Center as “the last piece of the puzzle” of the Songshan Sports Park. He stressed that in the future, the park will include venues that meet international standards, allowing the city to host international competitions ranging from outdoor sports to water sports.
The mayor announced that in addition to the Songshan District Sports Center, the City will also inaugurate its tenth district sports center in Datong District at the end of November.