Designed by a Japanese architecture firm which won out of all the international bidders invited, the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena was opened in 2005 to specifically accommodate the prestigious ATP World Tour Finals that kicked off in the same year and culminated in the finals in 2008. Afterwards, starting from 2009, the dominant pull of the Qizhong Stadium remains in early October every year, in which it is the host of the Shanghai Masters prestigious event, one out of the nine total events of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 (a heavy weight event of the Tennis world; outranked only by the quad Grand Slams). With attendance of international Tennis stars, the place draws enormous herds of fans. At the time of inauguration, it was the largest Tennis arena in Asia but has since been bypassed by Beijing’s Olympic Green Tennis Center, built in 2007.
The Japanese firm Environmental Design Institute (EDI) planned every thing in meticulous detail while also keeping it in line with the lay of the land and carrying out thorough testing, where required, to standards that rivaled those of China Aerospace. This shows in the abundance of green space and open areas made available in the complex (almost 50% of the entire 200 acres) and the design of the unique metal roof of the stadium which is composed of 8 pieces intended as petals. Within the 8 minutes it takes the roof to open; it looks like a magnolia in bloom (Magnolia is Shanghai’s official flower).
Built to international standards, the stadium has enough seating capacity to accommodate nearly 1,000 vehicles and 14,000 guests in weathers both pleasant and otherwise, thanks to the retractable roof top design. Currently there are 25 courts with an expansion plan in place to extend this number to 40. This number is inclusive of courts both inside and outside and the 3 public focus main courts including the larger center court. These courts can also accommodate table tennis, basketball (in fact the stadium has already welcomed American NBA teams on tour in China in the year 2007 i.e. the Orlando Magic and Cleveland Cavaliers teams), gymnastics and volleyball games with some modifications. The facilities and equipment are of high quality; in line with global expectations of this massive venue.
Getting to the stadium is not without some hassle. Based in southwest of the city, in Maqiao Town, it is almost 35kms apart from the Bund, Shanghai. This translates to almost an hour drive by car or taxi. Another means is by taking the Shanghai subway. The venue is close to the last station on metro line 1 named Xinzhuang. From there visitors will have to board a local bus/ shuttle at the terminal or get a taxi to get to the stadium. Since it is in a suburban area, there is not much economic activity on the outskirts of the premises. Which means food and drink sold inside is comparatively expensive so locals tend to bring their own fare from home.