Hangzhou: Civilized Events & City Branding

December 7th, 2025-20The 5th to 7th rounds of the 26th China Badminton Club Super League came to an end at the Binjiang Stadium. This is not only a technical contest, but also a concentrated review of urban civilization. On the sidelines of the game, the audience stood up and applauded the wonderful performance of each round.The applause not only cheered for the winner, but also paid tribute to the all-out strivers; at the end of the game, everyone picked up the garbage around them and added color to the game with the consciousness of “people leaving the field clean”.

From the professional competition venues of the Badminton Super League to the national carnivals of “Zhejiang BA” and marathon, from the touring performances of international stars to the people-friendly performances of local theater groups, in every performance venue in Hangzhou, civilization is no longer a simple slogan, but can be seen in the conscious actions of the audience, becoming one of the most touching urban backgrounds of this “city of international competitions”.

The trend of civilized watching of games (performances) has a clear development trajectory in Hangzhou. As a city that has successively hosted major events such as the Asian Games, Asian Para Games, Asian Karate Championships, and the 2024 HSBC Badminton World Tour Finals, Hangzhou has long regarded game civilization as an important window for urban civilization, and has fully launched the “Civilized Viewing (Performance) in Hangzhou” brand. The city has established an overall coordination mechanism led by the Propaganda Department of the Municipal Party Committee to continuously deploy and promote civilized game viewing (performance) work. At the same time, it has formulated standardized etiquette for game viewing (performance) by category, formed a guide for civilized game viewing (performance) etiquette, and guided relevant venues in various places to formulate “one venue (game), one plan.” For example, when Binjiang District hosts important events such as the Zhejiang Basketball Association Basketball League, the District Civilization Office takes the lead and collaborates with cultural, tourism, sports, public security, urban management and other departments and event operators to intervene in advance and make careful arrangements to formulate special civilized game viewing plans to achieve integrated advancement of organization, security, publicity, and guidance to ensure orderly organization, assigned responsibilities, and effective execution. In 2024, Xihu District, Binjiang District, Xiaoshan District, Linping District, and Qiantang District will become the city’s first demonstration city for civilized viewing (performance). Among them, Xihu District, Binjiang District, and Xiaoshan District have been successfully selected as 6 pilot areas for civilized viewing and performance work in the province. Nowadays, civilized game viewing (performance) has been fully rolled out across the city, from large venues in the city to rural auditoriums and playgrounds, civilized game viewing (performance) has become a common practice.

Under the system layout of top-level design, Hangzhou has gradually built a civilized game viewing (performance) ecology of “department collaboration, national participation, digital intelligence empowerment, and mechanism guarantee”, making every game performance a vivid footnote to urban civilization. For example, in the match between China and Australia in the FIFA 2026 World Cup Asian Qualifiers, although the result left regrets, the audience won widespread praise for their rationality and grace. During the game, the uniform cheering sound always maintained an appropriate decibel, with no antagonistic slogans or excessive behavior; after the final whistle, the fans shouted “Thank you Hangzhou! Goodbye Hangzhou!” and consciously took away the ribbons and garbage around them, interpreting the concept of “showing your style while watching the game” with the action of “people walking around the field.”

In the high-profile local competitions, the spirit of civilization is equally strong. Inside and outside the stadium of the first Future Cup Football Champions League in Yuhang, civilized details shine everywhere: the players compete fiercely on the green field, and the hand-held placards and inflatable cheering sticks that read “Enthusiasm does not cross the line, rational cheering is more touching” in the stands merge into a red wave; in the “Game Interaction Zone” outside the stadium, children are courteous and cooperative with each other in goal challenges and hoop games, fully demonstrating the civilized qualities of the new generation. “In the past, I was always worried about encountering uncivilized behavior when watching football games. This time, the whole process was a surprise – everyone cheered for the wonderful cooperation and applauded the fighting spirit. This kind of atmosphere is the best education for children.” A parent expressed emotion at the scene, expressing the warm experience brought by the civilized game. In traditional brand events such as marathons, Chun’an and Jiande pay attention to detail management and behavioral guidance to promote the transformation of civilization from concept to action. Among them, Jiande improves volunteer point incentives through the “Civilized Help Code” platform and promotes the normalization of services; Chun’an organizes volunteers to carry out gentle persuasion on uncivilized behaviors on site to enhance the viewing experience; the two places also combine activities such as “Civilized Caravan” and “Civilized Market” to extend the chain of civilized communication and enhance the public’s sense of participation and gain.

In performance venues, civilization is also a silent consensus to protect a wonderful experience. This year, many celebrities held large-scale concerts in Hangzhou. Tens of thousands of spectators entered and exited the venue in an orderly manner without pushing or crowding. After the performance, the venue was as clean as ever. An audience member shared on a social platform: “Everyone took the initiative to take away the garbage when the show was over. This civilized atmosphere made the performance experience better and made me proud of Hangzhou.” Behind this tacit understanding is the long-term infiltration and innovative practice of urban civilization. Binjiang District, together with Xiaoshan District, successfully created the province’s first “waste-free concert” benchmark in the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium. Through measures such as electronic ticketing and virtual special effects to replace polluting stage effects, waste was reduced from the source. At the beginning and end of the concert, visual resources such as venue videos and surround screens were fully utilized to play “waste-free” promotional videos to deeply integrate environmental protection and civilization.

The continuous deepening of this civilized consensus is inseparable from cross-department coordination and full-chain guarantees. In the eighth round of Group C of the Asian top 18 qualifiers for the 2026 US-Canada-Mexico World Cup, the Chinese team played at home against the Australian team. The sports department took the lead in organizing the event and on-site guidance; the traffic police department studied and judged the travel needs of more than 70,000 spectators in advance, and controlled the traffic around the venue in real time during the game; the subway and bus were linked to increase the operating frequency, scattered During the game, the subway gates were fully open and security checks were waived, allowing spectators to leave the venue “silky”; the urban management department worked with sanitation workers, volunteers, etc. to maintain the environment around the venue; the cultural and tourism department launched the “Flowers in Hangzhou is Wonderful Enough” World Preliminary Fans exclusive event, including 181 preferential products in 97 hotels, inviting fans to create a Jiangnan date of football and flowers. The seamless connection and joint advancement of all departments not only allow the civilized concept of rational viewing of games and “people walking on the field to be clean” to take root, but also allow efficient collaboration to become a solid support for civilized guarantees.

The development of civilized fashion requires a systematic and complete guarantee system, and it also relies on innovative and diversified publicity and guidance. The Hangzhou Municipal Civilization Office continues to place public service advertisements for civilized viewing of games (performances) on subway electronic screens, urban arterial roads and other public spaces. The Qiandao Lake Marathon used the city’s IP “Lake Baobao” to produce a series of civilized spectator posters, which were widely disseminated through new media platforms such as Douyin and Xiaohongshu. The Jiande Marathon pushed the “Civilized Running, Cheering for Every Step” initiative through its official public account, and set up large themed slogans and civilized signboards along the track to achieve online and offline linkage publicity. When Qiantang District hosted the youth line dance and roller skating elite competitions, it built a three-dimensional publicity network of “slogan + video + broadcast”, placed eye-catching and civilized slogans inside and outside the venue, used LED screens to play promotional videos, and provided warm reminders and rule guidance through real-time voice broadcasts. Binjiang District accurately pushed text message reminders for civilized viewing to more than 76,000 spectators at key points in major events, from “consciously queuing up” to “leaving safely”, using warm reminders to build consensus. In addition to setting up a “civilized viewing” gas station at the subway exit during the event, Xiaoshan District also organized volunteers to deliver fans and cheering sticks with civilized slogans to the audience on site, conveying the concept of civility with considerate service. Before the finals of the “Zhejiang BA” Hangzhou Division, Gongshu District released the “Civilized Game Viewing Initiative” in advance through official WeChat, on-site large screens, radio and other channels. It also specially invited representatives of “moral models” and “Hangzhou good people” to take the lead in practicing etiquette. Kong Shengdong, a national moral model, said: “Civility does not distinguish between inside and outside the game. Being able to cheer for the fighters and praise civilization with everyone, this sense of participation is particularly meaningful.”

From competition civilization to urban civilization, Hangzhou’s practice is writing the deep logic of spiritual civilization construction. Civilized viewing (performance) is not a “temporary measure” during major events, but a “long-term mechanism” integrated into the daily life of the city; it is not only a “window project” to display the image to the outside world, but also a “people’s livelihood project” that benefits all citizens. When children bend down to pick up garbage under the guidance of their parents, and when fans of the visiting team and fans of the home team hold hands and raise the national flag together, these moments together outline the civilized background of Hangzhou. This kind of civilization is not a deliberate performance, but comes from inner literacy; it is not a fleeting scenery, but a habit accumulated over time. It embodies the magnanimity of “passion without losing warmth, and cheers with more structure”, and also demonstrates Hangzhou’s tolerance and confidence in building an “international competition city”.

In the future, as more major events and cultural activities come to Hangzhou, the practice of civilized viewing (performance) will continue to be deepened and upgraded. The city will continue to use games as a medium and performances as a bridge to explore extending the experience of civilized guidance of large-scale events to urban management, community governance and other fields, and promote the realization of a virtuous cycle of “hosting a game well and improving a city”.

As shown by the conscious actions of the audience in each game, Hangzhou’s practice is vividly explaining: civilization is the most beautiful scenery and the most powerful cohesion. It makes the city warmer, life more textured, and every gathering becomes a warm memory.