Rider sets trail for Guangzhou

<p><strong>Asiad's image ambassador sees his city as equal to Beijing, Shanghai</strong></p><p>

Rider sets trail for Guangzhou

<br/><br/><strong>Alex Hua Tian rides a horse through a pool at the equestrian competition of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.</strong> [Photo/China Daily]<br/>GUANGZHOU - It has been a long ride for Alex Hua Tian on the way to becoming the image ambassador for the Asian Games in his hometown.</p><p>Hua, the first Chinese to compete in Olympic equestrian events when they were held in 2008 in Hong Kong, has since saddled up to promote the host city of Guangzhou.</p><p>"People mostly see Beijing and Shanghai, but Guangzhou is just as significant," said the 21-year-old.</p><p>Born to a Chinese father and a British mother, Hua started riding at the age of four and became the first Chinese registered by the International Equestrian Federation at the age of 14.</p><p>Born in Beijing, he has also lived in Guangzhou, Hong Kong and London seeking the best for his horse-riding training.</p><p>

Rider sets trail for Guangzhou

<br/><strong>Hua Tian is the image ambassador of the Guangzhou Asian Games.</strong> [Photo/China Daily] <br/>Before he and his family moved to Hong Kong in 1994, Hua said he spent much of his time in Guangzhou, where his father and grandfather live.</p><p>"It was also in Guangzhou that my mom used to work and first met my father," recalled Hua, who always dresses in a tailor-made black suit at social functions.</p><p>By the time he became a Guangzhou citizen in 2008, he was ranked 21st in the equestrian world.</p><p>That excellence put him in the spotlight as the image ambassador for Guangzhou, which is vying for international attention equal to that of domestic counterparts Beijing and Shanghai.</p><p>Hua is not competing in the equestrian events at the Asian Games because his horses belong to a different category than those at the Asiad.</p><p>But Hua said he was glad to see Chinese riders win silver medals in the equestrian dressage team event, which is "more than a lot of people expected".</p><p>It is also just one example of the growing equestrian scene in China, he said.</p><p>"Horse riding has become fashionable across China since 2008," Hua said, mentioning the hundreds of amateur horse-riding clubs in China. "There is so much interest."</p><p>Hua was born into a family with a long tradition of horse riding. His mother Sara Noble, from a traditional British family, learned to ride when she was very young.</p><p>"From the time I was born, I was around horses, patting, feeding, even held on a horse's back," Hua told China Daily. "So as a 4-year-old, actually learning to ride was the next step in a natural progression.</p><p>"Horses were such a part of me I didn't really think twice about it."</p><p>Hua had only six months to prepare and to get the necessary sponsorship for the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008.</p><p>He fell during the cross-country competition and was disqualified during the Games, but being involved was so "intense" that it was a great learning experience for him.</p><p>Hua said he is looking forward to representing China again at the Olympic Games in London in 2012.</p><p>"The Beijing Olympics brought me back to my homeland, while the 2012 Olympics means competition in the hometown of equestrian riding," Hua said. "Both are important to me."</p><p>Tan Yingzi contributed to this story.</p>

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