A British Aristocratic Sport Becomes a Chinese County’s Pastime

A few days ago, the final of the Snooker Champion of Champions concluded in Bolton, UK.

Speaking of snooker, many people first became familiar with the sport because of Ding Junhui. Indeed, this sport might feel somewhat unfamiliar to most Chinese people.

Although as early as the 1980s, pool tables were already set up on Chinese streets for people’s entertainment, the image of shirtless men smoking cigarettes and casually playing pool is worlds apart from the refined gentlemanly air of snooker players in white shirts and black waistcoats. In snooker tournaments, every gesture exudes intelligence and skill, making it a true display of artistry and competition.

Just like this stark contrast, there is an unmissable place in the world of snooker today—Yushan County in Jiangxi Province, China. Yushan, a county under the jurisdiction of Shangrao City in Jiangxi Province, is also known as the “Billiards Capital of China” and the “World Famous City for Billiards.”

This small county not only produces 50,000 pool tables annually but also stands on par with major cities as one of the domestic venues for international snooker tournaments.

How has such a close connection been forged between a “gentleman’s sport” originating in the UK and a small county in Jiangxi, China?

From Sheffield to Yushan

In 2024, after a four-year hiatus, the Snooker World Open resumed in Yushan County, Jiangxi Province.

The changes in Yushan over the past few years have been remarkable: the arenas look more polished, the venues are well-organized, and fans and spectators can sit much closer to the action. The transformation is so significant that it’s almost hard to recognize the Yushan of today.

This year’s poster for the Snooker World Open in Yushan

World No. 1 snooker player, nicknamed “The Rocket,” Ronnie O’Sullivan, described Yushan with three consecutive “Greats.” O’Sullivan’s triple “great” was undoubtedly heartfelt.

For a player as seasoned as O’Sullivan, who has seen the biggest stages worldwide, his praise for Yushan is perhaps the best testament to the legitimacy of its title as the “World Famous City for Billiards.”

This year marks the fifth time Yushan has hosted the Snooker World Open. Before this small county in eastern Jiangxi, previous Chinese host cities for the World Open were metropolises like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Haikou.

In 2015, Yushan hosted its first-ever Chinese Pool World Championship, and in 2016, the Snooker World Open moved from major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou to Yushan for the first time.

Suddenly, world-renowned players like Ding Junhui, Ali Carter, and Ronnie O’Sullivan flocked to this small town, putting Yushan on the map in the international billiards community.

When it comes to reputation, first-tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou have far more global prestige than this small county in Jiangxi. In terms of infrastructure and hospitality, Yushan lacked even a five-star hotel at the time, let alone an airport. Yet, this little-known county managed to host the Snooker World Open year after year.

So, what’s special about Yushan? There certainly is something. Although not widely recognized, Yushan already had significant weight in the billiards world before being discovered by international players and fans.

Yushan is the largest billiard table and slate production base in China. Each year, the county produces 50,000 billiard tables and 250,000 slates for tables, which are used in prestigious tournaments such as the UK Championship, the German Masters, and the Chinese Snooker Tour. These products are exported to over 70 countries and regions, including the UK and Italy, generating an annual output value of 1.5 billion yuan.

To put it simply, Yushan has essentially “taken over” the snooker industry, a gentleman’s sport originating in Britain. But Yushan hasn’t stopped at producing high-quality billiard tables and hosting top-tier tournaments. In 2019, the county built a sports arena specifically designed for billiards competitions.

This venue is far superior to the “old and small” venues in Europe that can only seat a few hundred spectators.

Yushan County Sports Center

That’s not all. Yushan also established an international billiards academy, which began enrolling students in 2021. Even Sheffield, the so-called “World Snooker Capital” in the UK, doesn’t have a specialized billiards academy like this.

In just over two years since its establishment, the academy has already produced students who have become professional players on the World Snooker Tour.

Data shows that Yushan, with a population of around 600,000, has over 70 billiards clubs in the urban area and more than 200 across the county. In comparison, Beijing and Shanghai—each with populations exceeding 20 million—have just over 2,000 registered billiards clubs.

In terms of the scale of its billiards industry, the level of tournaments it hosts, and its community enthusiasm for the sport, Yushan rivals even China’s top-tier cities. Clearly, Yushan’s focus is set squarely on the billiards industry.

From Bluestone to Billiard Tables

The close connection between a high-end European sport and a small, remote county in China actually began with a type of stone used for inkstones.

Yushan is known for its local specialty—bluestone. The county’s bluestone is not only of high quality but also has a resource reserve of over 3 billion cubic meters. As early as the Tang Dynasty, this stone was used to make inkstones called “Luowen Inkstones.”

In the 1970s, a local rural enterprise in Yushan began producing these inkstones. Since the stone was abundant, these inkstones were marketed as cheap and affordable.

Yushan bluestone

Fast forward to the 1980s, and billiard tables began appearing on city streets across China. Pool quickly became a trendy pastime for many young people.

However, at that time, high-end billiard tables in China were made with imported slate. The high price of these tables made them inaccessible for a sport that was growing in popularity on the streets.

In the early 1980s, a domestic company, Beijing Xingwei Sports, combined features of snooker and American pool to produce the first “Star” Chinese pool table. But to produce affordable billiard tables, finding high-quality yet low-cost slate was key.

In the 1990s, the company discovered Yushan’s bluestone. They found that the stone, previously used for inkstones, had excellent elasticity and water resistance, was moisture-proof and wear-resistant, and didn’t generate static electricity—making it a perfect substitute for expensive imported slate.

In 1996, Xingwei invested in a slate factory in Yushan’s Zhangcun town, exclusively for producing billiard table slates.

The same stone once used for inkstones began to be crafted into billiard tables in Xingwei’s workshop, forging Yushan’s connection to the billiards industry.

billiards on Chinese streets in the 1980s

If the story had continued along this path, it would have been a familiar tale: a remote area relying on resource exploitation to occupy the lowest rung of an industry’s value chain.

But Yushan didn’t stop there. Instead, it sought its own path toward development. By 2013, Star billiard tables had become the custom brand for international billiards tournaments. Meanwhile, the rise of players like Ding Junhui and Pan Xiaoting sparked a billiards craze in China.

Looking to expand production, Xingwei decided to establish a new base outside Beijing. Yushan’s unique resource advantages aligned perfectly with Xingwei’s needs. At the same time, Yushan saw the growing popularity of billiards in China as an opportunity.

By combining industry, branding, events, and cultural tourism, Yushan aimed to create a complete billiards ecosystem. The county set a goal to become the “Billiards Capital of China” and the “World Famous City for Billiards,” even adjusting its development plan to work with Xingwei in growing the billiards industry.

Bringing in industry was only the first step. Yushan then set its sights on hosting tournaments. But without fame or infrastructure, how could a small county compete with major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, or Guangzhou? The answer: sincerity.

They worked overtime to transform the county high school gymnasium into a competition venue, set up a reception station in Shanghai to escort players to Yushan by high-speed rail, and even brought in chefs from Beijing to compensate for the lack of five-star hotels.
In 2015, Yushan successfully hosted its first Chinese Pool World Championship.

Building on this momentum, the county secured the hosting rights for the Snooker World Open the following year, signing a four-year contract.

Riding the wave of these events, Yushan launched its international billiards cultural industry in 2017. A billiards industrial park, the Yushan Sports Center, the World Billiards Museum and Hall of Fame, and the International Billiards Training School all became part of the Yushan International Billiards Cultural Center. This is what prompted O’Sullivan’s triple “great.”

Today, Yushan has become a shining star in the billiards world, integrating billiards manufacturing, event hosting, and cultural tourism into one cohesive brand.

From the Billiards Industry to Billiards Culture

To put it bluntly, Yushan’s resources are not unique or irreplaceable.

However, by leveraging the growth of a single company and expanding from the small niche of slate production, Yushan has successfully drawn the billiards industry to its doorstep—and now aims to create its own billiards culture.

Let’s start with the industry. In 2012, the Snooker World Open was held in Haikou, China, for the first time, marking a shift in the global focus of billiards toward China.

In 2014 and 2015, Ding Junhui reached the world number one ranking twice, sparking a massive billiards craze across the country.

Data also supports this trend. In 2019, the billiards market in China reached a scale of 21.3 billion yuan. The downstream market for the billiards industry is even more impressive. According to the 2022 Billiards Consumption Report, the market for billiards halls in China was valued at 600–700 billion yuan in 2022.

Another rapidly growing market is billiards education. In 2023, the global market for billiards training services was worth approximately $208 million, and this figure is projected to grow to $287 million by 2030.

Recognizing these trends, Yushan signed a strategic partnership agreement with Xingpai Group in 2013, transferring all resources, including tournaments, to Yushan. The goal of this collaboration was to build a global billiards industry and cultural center by introducing top-tier tournaments.

Yushan Billiards Academy, where students practice their skills

Now let’s talk about creating billiards culture.

This sport, originating in Britain, has long been dominated by the West—even in the face of China, the largest market for its promotion. Take the World Snooker Championship, for example. It is snooker’s most prestigious event, in terms of influence, prize money, and professional rankings. However, the championship, which has been held in the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, UK, for over 40 years, has never been hosted in China.

As early as 2012, during the World Championship, snooker legend Stephen Hendry predicted that moving the championship to China would be inevitable in the future. However, Barry Hearn, then-chairman of the World Snooker Association, firmly rejected the idea, declaring, “It won’t happen as long as I’m alive. Don’t even think about moving the World Championship elsewhere, especially to China.”

By the 2022 World Championship, several renowned players expressed their hope for the event to move out of the outdated and cramped Crucible Theatre. Ronnie O’Sullivan even specifically stated that only China could elevate the World Championship into a Grand Slam-level event comparable to tennis or golf.

But the possibility of hosting the championship in China remains slim. When asked why the World Championship couldn’t be held in China, Barry Hearn bluntly responded, “Because China can only create its own brands, not take over established ones like the World Championship or the Masters.”

On one hand, China has been investing heavily in promoting snooker, while on the other, Chinese players must travel thousands of miles to the UK to compete.

What feels even more unfair is that tournaments held in China are always overshadowed by the UK’s “Triple Crown,” regarded as second-tier competitions.

Top players appreciate China for the higher rewards and better treatment they receive, but the World Snooker Association’s reluctance to move the championship to China is rooted in a simple fear: while they want to profit from the Chinese market, they also worry that snooker might grow too large in China, causing them to lose control of the sport—just as they did with table tennis and badminton.

people watching billiards matches on large screens in the streets, showcasing Yushan’s strong billiards culture

Instead of waiting for the World Snooker Association to “show mercy,” China might as well focus on building its own snooker tournaments. The good news is that in the latest world rankings released on November 11, four Chinese snooker players are now in the top 16—a record high.

Yushan currently has over 200 youth billiards training bases and clubs, and 80% of its primary and secondary schools have billiards activity rooms. Students from Yushan’s Billiards Academy are already appearing on the list of professional players in the World Snooker Tour.

It is foreseeable that more Chinese players will make it into the world rankings, and the influence of Chinese snooker tournaments will continue to grow.

For Yushan to truly become the world’s billiards capital and a renowned billiards city, it’s likely just a matter of time.