Chinese domestic football had an early summer break for the World Cup but the third round of the CFA cup takes place midweek before the Chinese Super League matches resume at the weekend. here takes a look at going to Yuexiushan to watch Guangzhou R&F play.
Located in downtown Guangzhou, Yuexiushan stadium is often referred to as the spiritual home of Cantonese football and Guangzhou Evergrande played here under their previous owners before a nasty spot of match fixing ended that relationship. The bare concrete bleachers were refurbished before the start of the 2013 season which has reduced the capacity but does mean everybody now has a seat to sit on although these may be dirty so copy the locals and bring a newspaper or plastic bag to sit on.
Tickets in the purple blocks are 70RMB, for the blue blocks it is 50RMB and the orange section is reserved for away fans
Buying tickets
Tickets are available online five days before the game from www.11185piao.com andwww.t3.com.cn although sell outs are rare and tickets can be bought easily on match days. The official ticket stand is the blue roofed stall on the corner opposite the two restaurants outside Yuexiushan’s main entrance; depending on what area of the ground you choose (see picture caption) individual tickets are 50 or 70 yuan.
Before you get to the point of buying a ticket from the official stall, on the short walk from the metro stop you will have inevitably been assailed by numerous touts offering tickets which are often cheaper. On rainy days against low profile opponents tickets can go from as low as 10 kuai and are sometimes sold inside the metro station.
Getting to Yuexiushan
Yuexiushan is easily accessible by public transport as it is only a short walk from the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall metro stop on line 2 and is also served by plenty of buses – look for越秀山体育场 (Yuexiushan Tiyuchang). It will be much easier to get a taxi to the ground than away from it as the majority of fans leave from a single exit which leaves the road clogged post-match.
The main entrance is to the south of the ground, just off Ying Yuan road (应元路) although another, smaller entrance exists at the north. To go in this way you must first walk through Yuexiu park which makes for a pleasant stroll.
Yuexiushan is in central Guangzhou and easily accessible by public transport
In and around Yuexiushan
Depending on how generous the guard is feeling food may be allowed inside but drinks (apart from those sold in plastic cups just outside the ground) will always be confiscated if found during the sometimes cursory bag search. Soft drinks can be bought from a stall just inside the south-west entrance and from sellers who roam throughout the ground during the game. No food is available inside though.
Partly because of this, many fans congregate on the road outside the main entrance where there are several small places to eat as well as stalls selling drinks in plastic cups. Match day programmes are also handed out free in this area before the game and you can get a ticket for the half time lottery draw here too.
Sections 7 – 16, including the away end, are uncovered so if your ticket is for there (or if you plan to buy from a tout on the day) come prepared with sun cream and/or umbrella depending on the weather.
Buying souvenirs
Fake replica shirts can be bought cheaply and easily at many street stalls between the metro station and Yuexisushan but you should always bargain. Remember that you are going to watch R&F who play in blue and white stripes though and don’t be fooled into buying a red Evergrande shirt. This is easier than it sounds as ironically the range of fake Evergrande products is much wider than R&F ones. More expensive official shirts with names and numbers as well as other R&F souvenirs can be bought from the official stand next to where tickets are sold on match-days.
Upcoming fixtures
At the time of writing Guangzhou R&F’s next home game is against Jiangsu on Saturday 19 July at 19.30. R&F prefer to play their home games on Sunday evenings although Beijing Guoan will visit midweek in August and the derby with Evergrande at the end of September may be moved to Friday or Saturday. Check the information box on the top right of the club website to confirm the week before the match.
For a guide to watching Beijing Guoan play at Gongti click here
by Donald Ross
Are the ticket prices quoted here still largely correct (50 to 80, probably)??
FFS mate. Look at the dates as Cameron has said and post the updated prices yourself. Do us all a favour instead of carping on about it.
I haven’t been mate. I live in Beijing mate. I was hoping to use this as a first-time-visitors-guide for when I do visit mate. Do you want to know how much Guoan was last year mate? I can tell you mate. What about the year before that mate?
“Do you want to know how much Guoan was last year mate? ”
Not really. Here’s a tip for free e hoa (that’s Maori mate):
If you want to know the current prices, ask a local rather than look at an article posted a few years ago.
You’re welcome.
So… You don’t know and you’re not a local??
Thanks for your input…. mate.
I’d imagine them to be, R&F have very few fans and tickets are easy to come by, though hopefully someone in Guangzhou can comment on that. Do note, that a number of games this year are being played at the University Stadium far outside the city and not at Yuexiushan.
I think outside of Beijing and Evergrande (and maybe Chongqing and Shijiazhuang), CSL ticket prices probably hover around RMB50 and tickets are extremely easy to come by.
Entry cost vary dramatically and you can add Shanghai Shenhua to the list of expensive CSL grounds to visit. A trip to Hongkou Stadium will set you back roughly the same as a Guoan ticket. (I.e. 100 to 300 depending on where you sit) As you say, a lot of CSL teams seem to have two basic admission prices of 50 or 80RMB (SIPG, Sainty, Yatai at least). Shijiazhuang is also, officially, 50 to 80. BUT, because the place is packed tight most weeks (And certainly was the week I visited) scalpers are about the only feasible way to get tickets.
I was watching R&F on TV the other night and, true, the ground looked virtually empty but the same can be said at the Jingkai stadium in Changchun every week and tickets are still scalped there. (Thanks for the heads-up about games at the University Stadium, by the way. I’ve already been caught out like this once this year when I headed over to TEDA stadium to watch Tianjin play).
League one, by the way, seems to have basic admission set at 30 and 50RMB and in some places (B.I.T, Hunan Xiangtao, etc) is actually free.
R&F are back at Yuexiushan for the SIPG game at the weekend and hopefully for the rest of the season too. Tickets 60/80/100
“R&F have very few fans” – sad but true. You’d think moving to a stadium surrounded by 10 universities would boost student attendance but not when the move is around exam time.
When have R&F been forced to move to University City twice in the last four years? Exam time.
“When have R&F been forced to move to University City twice in the last four years? Exam time.”
Just another example of the ridiculous problems football has to face in China. You’d think students would welcome a couple of hours break once every fortnight during exam time to unwind and watch the match. Not so in China – must study every single waking hour!
Irrational and neurotic.
If you paid 300rmb for a Shenhua ticket you got skinned – unless you went to the Shanghai Derby, Evergrande or Guoan game.
No. I didn’t pay 300¥ for a Shenhua ticket. But those figures quoted are the official prices from the ticket office. Price of entry varies depending on where you want to sit. Behind the goals are the cheap-seats (Due to the restricted view). The more central you get, the higher the cost. I usuall end up paying circa 150¥ at Guoan and spent about the same for Shenhua.
I’m in Guangzhou at the moment and have watched both Evergrande and R&F this week. I got my Evergrande tickets free (From a friend who regularly gets given them) but had to get an R&F ticket from a tout because there didn’t appear to be any door-sales (I paid 50¥). Yuexiushan is in a nice setting (Under the mountain there) but the pitch isn’t well drained at all (So doesn’t deal very well with the Guangzhou rain) and the roof leaks like a sieve. There was, however, a reasonably large and boisterous crowd there (For the Shandong Lvneng game).
Look forward to your next match report Flyingkiwi.