By Yang Yang

　　FOR more than a year, members of the Nomad Outdoor Club have got used to spending their Friday nights in the park near the Huangpu River. After setting up their tents, these young people would start enjoying a picnic.

　　On the surface, they looked like asgroupsof people escaping from their busy careers and urban lifestyle. However, the special equipment they brought made their outdoor activity a little out of the ordinary, such as a table of the tides and long sticks with nets.

　　"This equipment is specially made for dredging rubbish from the Huangpu River," said Neil Lee. In 2002, Neil and his friends voluntarily organized this activity, known as "Protect Mother-Cleaning Huangpu River".

　　In Neil's eyes, people who love outdoor activities should love nature first. It is also a kind of outdoor culture that the Nomad Club members are striving to create.

　　Healthy lifestyle

　　Outdoor activities, including hiking, camping and climbing, have enjoyed a long history in European and American countries. Even in China's neighbouring countries, Japan and South Korea, outdoor activities are prevalent among common people. It is said that people taking part in outdoor activities constitute up to one third of the total population in Japan. But in China, it is only in recent years that people's enthusiasm for outdoor activities has been stimulated. "From 2002 until now, outdoor clubs throughout China have been emerging one after another," said Gu Ming from the Homeward Outdoor Club.

　　"Today, people living in cities are pursuing a kind of healthy living style due to pressure from their work," Sun Haibo said. "In contrast to traditional ways of travelling, outdoor activities combine well with sports and bring new experience to people."

　　Inspired by the potential market and his love for outdoor life, Sun finally quit his favourable job and established his own Base Camp.

　　According to Gu, at least 24 outdoor clubs have been set up in Shanghai, mostly by people like Sun who are fond of nature. These clubs are usually quite small-scale, lacking in professional outdoor skills and strong financial support.

　　"Anyway, more and more unknown outdoor clubs are growing up rapidly," said Gu. Usually, the development of outdoor clubs has natural resources and potential clients as the necessary prerequisites. "The natural environment around Shanghai is not so good, but as China's economic centre, it has lots of potential clients," said Neil.

　　As the biggest outdoor club in Shanghai, the majority of Nomad Club members are well-paid white collars. After all, most outdoor activities have a certain level of specialization, which requires people to prepare proper equipment. "To some extent, attending outdoor activities is connected with a person's income," said Neil.

　　Art of existence

　　Although the development of outdoor activities is only in the budding stage, they have aroused many people's curiosity about taking adventures in undeveloped natural places. "Every two weeks, we can recruit nearly 100 new members," said Sun.

　　The increasing numbers of people who would rather spend weekends attending activities organized by outdoor clubs than travelling with traditional tourist agencies motivates these clubs to develop themselves in their unique way.

　　"Most of the placesswhereswe choose to develop outdoor activities are primitive," said Long Huaming from the Chinatravel Club. His club specializes in planningsgroupsoutdoor games for enterprises. "Organizing employees to attend outdoor games has been part of enterprises' culture," Long said. "A good way to strengthen the co-operation and harmony between employees is to get them living the outdoor life together."

　　Taking enterprises as their target clients, the first thing Long and his colleagues have to face is making their outdoor routes varied. "In this way, our clients will have more options," said Long. In addition, other elements also have to be takensintosaccount when planning a new route for an outdoor game, for instance, the physical difference between foreigners and Chinese, as well as hobbies and languages.

　　Future plans

　　A common problem confronted by most outdoor clubs is that they originate in people's interest in nature or travelling. "We need to make outdoor clubs work in the market," said Sun. "A clear management idea is crucial for establishing a club with great vitality."

　　The development of Shanghai's outdoor clubs was still in quite a disordered state. Outdoor activities in China lack professional instruction, including climbing skills and outdoor experience. Therefore, many activities are mixed together.

　　"In our future plans, professional activities will be given particular importance and we will provide clients with more practical and durable equipment," said Long.

　　At present, outdoor clubs are good places for people to play together and exchange ideas together, but the deep meaning of outdoor activities has not yet been fully explored.

　　"People are ever more conscious that the outdoors needs to be cultivated." His eight-year experience in outdoor activities has left Gu with a deep impression that the more developed China becomes, the more its environment deteriorates. "Modern civilization is invading primitive areas, destroying plants, geology, ancient relics and culture."

　　Gu believed the development of outdoor activities should be endowed with more significance, with primary emphasis put on how to develop cities in an orderly way, so as to protect natural resources.