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Fran Lu

The home of China’s new Olympic diving queen Quan Hongchan has been transformed into a tourist pilgrimage point thanks to the teenager’s stellar performance at the Paris Games.
Thousands of visitors have been flocking to Maihe village in Zhanjiang city, southern China’s Guangdong province in the wake of her double gold medal success in the French capital.


The 17-year-old is now the proud holder of three golds, the other was clinched at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.
Quan Zihua, a cadre at the athlete’s home town, told Haibo News that around 1,000 people are visiting her home every day.

Villagers have turned the thoroughfare in front of the dive queen’s house into a snack street which offers a range of local delicacies.
Large portraits of Quan have been erected at the entrance to the village and its ancestral hall where tourists can take photos.
The village has also built a large car park for tourists, adorned with the Olympic rings symbol.
The pair of flame trees in front of her home have also been a popular photo-taking site for people in search of fortune and success.

Quan won gold in the individual 10m platform event and alongside teammate Chen Yuxi in the 10m synchronised platform competitions in Paris.
She scored perfect 10s in the final of the 10m platform, beating her 18-year-old teammate Chen with a total score of 425.60.
The feat was not as astounding as her record-breaking total score of 466.20 at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, when Quan was only 14 and met the minimum age requirement for the games which were postponed for a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, in Paris, Quan overcame height and weight growth issues that posed great challenges to her technique.
Such were the levels reached by Quan and Chen, the competition between them was dubbed the “Clash of the Titans”.
Quan has also inadvertently created several bestsellers on China’s e-commerce platforms, including her favourite turtle dolls and the “ugly fish slippers” she wore in Paris.

On August 9, she also topped the Olympic athlete e-commerce influencer chart published by China’s largest e-commerce platform Taobao which belongs to the Alibaba Group, owner of the South China Morning Post.
She is the second youngest Chinese Olympic gold medalist in diving, after Fu Mingxia, who also became a sensation when she won the 10m platform gold medal in Barcelona in 1992 at the age of 13.
Quan’s carefree and straightforward character helped her attract an army of fans.
After she won the first gold in Paris, she gestured “piece of cake” with her hand while flaunting her gold medal to a fan.
“I won the gold medal so that I can show off,” she joked.


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Thousands turn China hometown of Olympics teen dive queen Quan Hongchan into tourist hub

The home village of China’s Olympic teen diving queen Quan Hongchan has been besieged by visitors in the wake of her success in Paris. Photo: SCMP composite/Weibo/Douyin/AFP

Crowds gather outside the athlete’s home to share in her success. Photo: Weibo

The thoroughfare outside Quan’s home has been turned into a “snack street”. Photo: Weibo

A billboard celebrating the diving sensation’s success adorns the village’s ancestral hall.  Photo: Weibo

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News

People & Culture

17-year-old champion sees at least 1,000 visitors a day flock to her home village to take photos, sample local culinary delights


The home village of China’s Olympic diving sensation, Quan Hongchan, has been besieged by thousands of visitors eager to have their photos taken outside her home, and to sample local culinary delights.


Paris 2024 Olympic Games

Tourism

Thousands turn China hometown of Olympics teen dive queen Quan Hongchan into tourist hub

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}17-year-old champion sees at least 1,000 visitors a day flock to her home village to take photos, sample local culinary delights

17-year-old champion sees at least 1,000 visitors a day flock to her home village to take photos, sample local culinary delights