Asia

Domestic orienteering picks up again in more Asian countries

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Orienteering event at village hall near Conghua, Guangdong Province, China

While there’s not much sign of travel restrictions relaxing in Asia, domestic orienteering is bringing life back to the sport in Asian countries. Activities and larger events are on the pipeline too.

1. Malaysia

Malaysia has entered the conditional phase of the Movement Control Order since May, and the recovery phase since June, which marks a gradual relaxation of restrictions. Shops, restaurants and mosques have reopened subject to social distancing measures.

The Rogaining Perak event has been rescheduled to 23-25 October, with entries opened for Malaysian teams only. The rogaine is a 24-hour navigation race in the wilderness of Perak, a state between Kuala Lumpur and Penang.

2. Mainland China

The first to be hit by the pandemic is also one of the first to recover. Major orienteering events in China are resuming, including one in Yangzhou just now, and one in Guangdong earlier in August, in addition to others.

3. Taiwan

Thanks to quick and decisive quarantine measures, Taiwan hasn’t been hit hard by the pandemic to start with, and consequently has never seen a total stop of orienteering. With the summer still blazing in full strength, orienteering activities are also going on in high frequency, even in urban areas.

Stay tuned to ORIEN.ASIA events

Keep updated to our events on ORIEN.ASIA, including event plans, entry arrangements, and more.

(Archive photo)

COVID-19

Orienteering restarts in Singapore with co-curricular activity

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Orienteering is a rapidly growing sport in Singapore. (Archive photo)

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, it might be a long time before major orienteering events get started again, but orienteering is not just about competitions and events—smaller-scale activities for youth are resuming, at least.

In Singapore, for example, orienteering is restarting with the resumption of co-curricular activities (CCA) last week:

Co-curricular activities (previously called extra-curricular activities) are activities outside normal school hours, and are compulsory for secondary school students. Students can choose from a range of activities offered by their schools, such as scouting, orchestra or sports, as well as orienteering in some schools.

Orienteering activities as extra-curricular activities are also popular in some other Asian places like Hong Kong, where interschool sport competitions are very popular, and the interschool orienteering league there often features fierce rivalries between elite schools.

Orienteering resuming despite limitations

Orienteering activities are restarting in Europe as restrictions in travel and group activities have relaxed, while borders are still largely closed in Asia. Open orienteering activities are however possible in some places like China, where restrictions have relaxed to a point where it’s determined safe for larger events. In other places, restrictions in group activity mean that open competitions have to wait. Travel corridors may provide hope for possible international events.

Although given the continued rate of coronavirus infections it may not yet be safe to resume activities at a larger scale, the resumption of CCA in Singapore nonetheless a good start and we’re hopeful for more resumptions to come.

Asia

A new low-cost carrier waiting to take off from Hong Kong—fancy trying it for your next Asian trip?

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For you who love travelling to Asia for orienteering—there’s a new low-cost carrier (LCC) waiting to take off from Hong Kong, if you fancy trying something new.

South China Morning Post reports that a new low-cost carrier, Greater Bay Airlines, is pending approval by the Civil Aviation Department of Hong Kong. The key man, Bill Wong, also owns Donghai Airlines in Shenzhen.

Hong Kong is situated right at the middle of three major markets: China, Northeast Asia (Japan, Korea) and Southeast Asia. (All of which has seen a surge of orienteering activities over the past decade, too.) The other LCC from Hong Kong, Hong Kong Express, was acquired by the full-service flag carrier Cathay Pacific in 2019.

The name “Greater Bay” comes from China’s regional plans for the Pearl River Delta region, a megalopolis spanning Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Macau and many more cities totaling over 63 million residents.

Asia is home to a number of low-cost carriers, such as Scoot and Lion Air, but most notably the Malaysian-based AirAsia which is one of the few LCCs in the world to fly long haul.

If everything goes well, you might be able to try this new airline on your next orienteering trip in Asia, despite disruptions to the orienteering calendar due to the COVID-19 pandemic.