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On Saturday, July 21, Mr. Tongsheng Tian and Mr.Chun Chang, respectively co-founder and CEO of the Chinese company Runnar, visited Calella through a famtrip organized by different cities in the country. The directors of this leading company in sports tourism in China were in Calella with the aim of getting to know the city and establishing links towards possible future collaborations.

The Tourism Area of the Municipality of Calella, organized a visit to the municipality, including various sports facilities, such as the Crol Center, the sports area "La Muntanyeta" and the sea football field. All the famtrip was aimed at making known the possibilities offered by Calella as a reference destination in sports tourism.

Mr. Tian Tongsheng - one of the main promoters of the marathon boom and the practice of sports in China - is the first Chinese runner over 60 who has finished the "grand slam" of marathons, including Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, New York and also the Barcelona marathon. He started running when he was 55 years old (he is currently 65) and to date he has finished more than 100 marathons.

China is currently experiencing a rapid increase in the popularity of marathons. During 2017, more than 1,000 marathons (including whole and half marathons) were held in China, with a participation of more than 10 million runners. For 2020 it is planned to double these figures. In recent years, sports in China have become a growing market. Between 2009 and 2014, participation in marathon races in China grew by 259.47%.

The visit of the Chinese businessmen in Calella is closely linked to the actions of the city promotion being made towards the Asian market, which in recent years have included: the visit of the Mayor of Calella, Montserrat Candini, at the World Forum of Tourist Cities (2016), the visit of a delegation of Chinese television interested in the development of IRONMAN 70.3 (May 2017) and the participation of a group of Chinese triathletes to the IRONMAN in October 2017.