People were playing football.

A football field built “in the air”.

Football field “in the air” at night (Photographed by Liu Song)

CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- Would you like to play football in the air? Recently, built on the top floor of a building in a residential area, a football field in Yuzhong District has become popular, which attracted not only football fans, but also lots of photography enthusiasts.

At 20:00 on June 9, a resounding cheer of "Shot!" at intervals was from the top floor of a building in a community at Minsheng Road, Qixinggang. After hearing the sound and looking up at the roof, you just know a football game was in full swing in a "in-the-air” field hidden above the head.

It is a different scene from the air, with a style of "8D magic city": surrounded by high-rise buildings in Yuzhong District, a delicate field is like floating in the air, whose location is at the upward section from Yihaoqiao to Linjiangmen, entrance is built at Qixinggang, and height is flush with that of the fifth or sixth floor of high-rise buildings nearby and of the eleventh or twelfth floor of some special buildings. However, it's over their head for the people in the community.

Li Mingxian, a senior resident, said that when the community was finished in 2001, it existed but in a form of a tennis court, charging 70 yuan an hour, so most players were employees of foreign-funded enterprises and company bosses.

Roof of the building was rebuilt into a in-the-air football field after the building was taken over by a hotel in 2015. Covering an area of more than 1,000 square meters, it’s a standard football field for two five-a-side teams, equipped with all kinds of facilities including goals, artificial turf, and lighting equipment. The only difference from others is that to reach the “in-the-air” field, you first need to take the elevator to the fourth floor and then walk to the roof. It has moved in favour of football fans after put into use.

"Is there a potential danger that the ball may fly out and hit people?" People who see the field for the first time will have such worry. But in fact, it never happened because there is fine wire entanglement around and on the top of the field. No matter how hard you kick the ball, there will be no danger of flying out. As a result, football fans can enjoy the joy of playing in the air.

"No game" after 22:00 to prevent disturbing residents

Li Daozhong, worker of the hotel who is responsible for maintaining the field, likes playing football. "Go, kick the ball!" It's a good thing to meet like-minded people on the court regardless of profession or age.

Li said that the field was mainly used for competition and social game between/among companies, and school teaching during the day, while for office workers to play football for relaxing at night. In previous years, there were 2 to 3 games a day on average, and about 1 to 2 in a non-raining day due to the epidemic this year.

Taking special care of the unique in-the-air field, Li said the safety must come first. So, the wire safety net wrapped in all directions will be checked at any time and reinforced after a long-time use.

It’s strictly forbidden to play game after 10 p.m. to prevent noise and light disturbance to the nearby residents.

It can be made into a "blockbuster"

More and more people have come to take photos there. Last month, a photographer from Shanghai knocked on the doors on the 20th floor and above of Unit 4 (the optimum location for shooting) in the community one by one, just for taking the best aerial view of the field, and made it after visiting about a dozen of residents.

On the evening of June 9, Liu Song, vice chairman of Chongqing Photographers Association, said the words "so beautiful" while taking pictures. "This field shows the unique landscape of Chongqing and has the characteristics of the mountainous city. Especially at night, it can be made into a blockbuster against the bright night scenery, and has the potential to become a very popular attraction online” (Translated by Jiang Yuling, Fathom Language Limited)