An avid sports collector since a young age, Xie Fei established an extensive  private sports museum in south China's Hainan Province with an aim to promote  China's sports culture.

　　HAIKOU, March 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S.-raised Xie Fei has turned his lifelong  passion for collecting sports memorabilia into a unique contribution to China's  sports culture.

　　Residing on Hainan Island, Xie has established an extensive private sports  museum in Fushan, Chengmai County, a way he preserves the history of Chinese  sports.

　　"This has been my biggest hobby," said the 42-year-old, who began collecting  sneakers and jerseys back in high school in California and continued his passion  in Beijing during his college years. "I have devoted more than two decades to  it."

　　Items from NBA stars Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James feature  prominently in Xie's Tianfu Sports Museum. These items mark the beginning of his  collection journey, which, however, extends far beyond that.

　　Around 25 years ago, Xie returned to China for higher education and in 2002  started his own business in Hainan - a resort hotel in Fushan, which highlighted  local coffee and showcased his sports memorabilia.

　　

　　"At that time, I thought I had many sports collections, and instead of  keeping them at home, I wanted to showcase them at the hotel. It might appeal  tourists and neighborhood residents," said Xie.

　　Indeed, many tourists expressed interest in the exhibition, leading to more  permanent displays, and eventually, the official opening of his museum in a  vacated four-story building.

　　At that time, Xie, who just returned to China and was still not fluent in  Mandarin, found that the museum could be a bridge connecting him to others. His  collection began to expand beyond the NBA, embracing a richer tapestry of  Chinese items. Since then, he has been searching for more Chinese sports  collections.

　　Jerseys from China's women's volleyball team, the signature of China's first  Olympic champion Xu Haifeng, and the torch of the Beijing Olympic Games - As his  valuable collections expanded, he began to feel more responsibility.

　　According to Xie, the collections preserve the history of Chinese sports and  the country's Olympic spirit. "These collections have rich value in educating  people," Xie stated.

　　

　　Therefore, Xie decided to donate all his over 2,000 collections to the  government while continuing to exhibit them for free in his museum. He funds the  museum's maintenance with the proceeds from his hotel and often invites sports  experts to hold seminars there.

　　In recent years, he has frequently taken his collections to schools to teach  children about the history of Chinese sports. He has also built a swimming pool  and a basketball court next to the museum for local teenagers to use for  free.

　　"Sports are the best education," said Xie. "I hope the next generation will  learn from these collections and the stories behind them."

　　As China decided to establish a free trade port system in Hainan in 2018, Xie  wanted to contribute more to the island where he has lived for more than 20  years.

　　"To promote the construction of the free trade port, promoting Hainan's local  culture is important, and sports are one of the key elements," he remarked.

　　

　　Since then, Xie has started collecting local sports memorabilia. During this  process, he found that local sports history was incomplete, so he contacted  local scholars and began compiling and filling in the gaps.

　　From the medal of Hainan's first-ever Games to the traditional sports  equipment of local Li and Miao people, after several years of effort, Xie's  museum has been able to organize a special Hainan sports exhibition while also  delving into more detailed historical research.

　　But the museum owner's efforts do not stop there. Looking forward, he has set  a new goal.

　　"I want to build a new museum, one that features only Hainan sports  collections," said Xie. "I want everyone to know how vibrant Hainan's sports  culture is."

原文链接：http://dost.hainan.gov.cn/kjxw/mtjj/202403/t20240329_3633720.html
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