{"id":88165,"date":"2026-10-20T09:11:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T09:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english.saigonbiz.com\/vn\/?p=88165"},"modified":"2026-10-21T01:55:53","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T01:55:53","slug":"how-zhengzhou-marathon-turns-race-into-journey-through-chinese-civilization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.saigonbiz.com\/vn\/how-zhengzhou-marathon-turns-race-into-journey-through-chinese-civilization\/","title":{"rendered":"How Zhengzhou Marathon turns race into journey through Chinese civilization"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>The 2026 Zhengzhou Marathon<\/em><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">ZHENGZHOU, China, Oct.  20, 2026  (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) &#8212; For most marathon runners, 42.195 kilometers is a test of endurance, discipline and will. In Zhengzhou, central China&#8217;s Henan Province, the distance can also become a journey through thousands of years of Chinese civilization.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Held on October 18, the 2026 Zhengzhou Marathon offered a distinctive fusion of city running and cultural heritage.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">&#8220;What surprised me most this year was the encounter between poetry and the marathon,&#8221; said Tang Tao, a 35-year-old runner from Zhengzhou who has taken part in six consecutive editions of the event.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">&#8220;Whether it was the ambience of the event or the on-site interactive activities, I felt surrounded by poetry,&#8221; Tang said.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">At the pre-race carnival, a specially designed &#8220;poetry corridor&#8221; drew visitors eager to photograph banners bearing famous Chinese verses. Lines such as &#8220;A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step&#8221; and &#8220;Wildfires cannot burn it all away; the spring breeze brings it back to life&#8221; prompted spontaneous recitations, creating a fitting prelude to a race defined by perseverance and determination.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Together, these poems offered a fitting prelude to the marathon, where perseverance, uncertainty and the determination to keep moving forward are part of every runner&#8217;s experience.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">For Jong-May Urbonya, an American cultural influencer with nearly half a million followers who promotes Hanfu and Chinese traditions online, the poems struck a chord.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">&#8220;The indomitable and forward-looking spirit depicted in the verses is precisely what marathon runners must possess,&#8221; Urbonya said.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Poetry is only part of the story. As one of the cradles of Chinese civilization, Zhengzhou bears a long, continuous cultural thread beneath its layers of history. The 3,600-year-old Shang Dynasty city wall still stands in the city center, a reminder of the meeting of ancient and modern.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Zhao Hengkang, director of the Zhengzhou Sports Bureau, said the 2026 event wove four major local cultural elements &#8211; poetry, surnames, Henan Opera and kung fu &#8211; throughout the program.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Since its inaugural edition in 2018, the Zhengzhou Marathon has promoted a &#8220;Surname Marathon&#8221; concept rooted in Henan&#8217;s kinship culture &#8211; the province is regarded as the ancestral home for many Chinese families and the origin of numerous surnames.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">&#8220;For Chinese participants, a surname can evoke family history, ancestral origins and a sense of belonging. For international runners, the experience offers an accessible introduction to a cultural tradition in which a single family name may carry centuries of historical memory,&#8221; said Ge Xiangyu, a runner who crossed the finish line carrying a flag bearing his surname.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Showing his medal, Ge added, &#8220;The symbolism goes beyond that of a souvenir,&#8221; he said, noting that runners can personalize the design with magnetic stickers bearing their own surnames, making each medal uniquely their own. <\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">Amid the hundreds of marathons held across China each year, culture is what sets Zhengzhou apart.<\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">&#8220;We hope to make the Zhengzhou Marathon not only a competitive event for 25,000 runners, but also an immersive journey into the charm of traditional Chinese culture,&#8221; Zhao said.<\/p>\n<pre>CONTACT: Contact person: Mr. Li, Tel: 86-10-63074558<\/pre>\n<p><img alt=\"\" src='https:\/\/ml.globenewswire.com\/media\/ZmEzNmM0YWQtNjg3Yy00ZjUyLTg4OGMtMTYwM2E0YjBiOGJlLTUwMDE2OTUzNi0yMDI2LTEwLTIwLWVu\/tiny\/The-2026-Zhengzhou-Marathon.png' referrerpolicy='no-referrer-when-downgrade' \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 2026 Zhengzhou Marathon ZHENGZHOU, China, Oct. 20, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) &#8212; For most marathon runners, 42.195 kilometers is a test of endurance, discipline and will. In Zhengzhou, central China&#8217;s Henan Province, the distance can also become a journey through thousands of years of Chinese civilization. Held on October 18, the 2026 Zhengzhou Marathon offered [&#8230;]\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":88166,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-globe-newswire"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v21.6 (Yoast SEO v21.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How Zhengzhou Marathon turns race into journey through Chinese civilization - Biz and Live in Saigon<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/english.saigonbiz.com\/vn\/how-zhengzhou-marathon-turns-race-into-journey-through-chinese-civilization\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Zhengzhou Marathon turns race into journey through Chinese civilization\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The 2026 Zhengzhou Marathon ZHENGZHOU, China, Oct. 20, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) &#8212; For most marathon runners, 42.195 kilometers is a test of enduran\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/english.saigonbiz.com\/vn\/how-zhengzhou-marathon-turns-race-into-journey-through-chinese-civilization\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Biz and Live in Saigon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SaigonbizGroup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-20T09:11:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-21T01:55:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/english.saigonbiz.com\/vn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/how-zhengzhou-marathon-turns-race-into-journey-through-chinese-civilization.gif\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/english.saigonbiz.com\/vn\/how-zhengzhou-marathon-turns-race-into-journey-through-chinese-civilization\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/english.saigonbiz.com\/vn\/how-zhengzhou-marathon-turns-race-into-journey-through-chinese-civilization\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/english.saigonbiz.com\/vn\/#\/schema\/person\/267b348e6cf32a66aab33637c2d399a6\"},\"headline\":\"How Zhengzhou Marathon turns race into journey through Chinese civilization\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-20T09:11:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-21T01:55:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/english.saigonbiz.com\/vn\/how-zhengzhou-marathon-turns-race-into-journey-through-chinese-civilization\/\"},\"wordCount\":507,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/english.saigonbiz.com\/vn\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Globe Newswire\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/english.saigonbiz.com\/vn\/how-zhengzhou-marathon-turns-race-into-journey-through-chinese-civilization\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/english.saigonbiz.com\/vn\/how-zhengzhou-marathon-turns-race-into-journey-through-chinese-civilization\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/english.saigonbiz.com\/vn\/how-zhengzhou-marathon-turns-race-into-journey-through-chinese-civilization\/\",\"name\":\"How Zhengzhou Marathon turns race into journey through Chinese civilization - 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