How Polo became the sport of China’s billionaires

The art of polo is distinctly Persian. The word “polo”, meaning “ball”, is derived from Balti, spoken in the region of Baltistan in Pakistan. But, today, the game of polo is finding a shiny, new vitality among the billionaires in China. For them, the elite allure of the game, and the skill involved in playing it, make it perfectly suited to a luxury lifestyle.

In China’s Tang dynasty (617 - 908AD) emperors played with the finest horses they could breed. The sport was enjoyed in one of the country’s ancient capitals, Chang’an, and centuries ago was also played by women in male dress.

The modern game was created in India, with the first polo club opening in 1833, in Assam. The colonial British are credited for spreading the game worldwide, and the first polo club, the Calcutta Polo Club, was established in 1862 by two British soldiers, Lieutenant Joseph Sherer and Captain Robert Stewart.

British settlers expanded the game in Argentina, which for the next century produced some of the world’s top players, such as Nacho Figueras. In 1876 James Gordon Bennett Jnr, the publisher of the now-defunct New York Herald newspaper, organised the first polo match in the United States, at Dickle’s Riding Academy on Fifth Avenue.

America’s finest club is now in South Carolina – a sterling example of how the sport has excelled and found a whole new audience in just over a century. “Aiken has been a presence on the polo scene since 1882,” says Barb Uskup, treasurer on Aiken Polo Club’s board of directors.

“Aiken Polo Club’s historic Whitney Field is the place to sip a cocktail while watching the ‘sport of kings’ each spring and autumn. Polo has grown in Aiken due to the tremendous amount of polo fields that each feature incredible sand footing, allowing play not only during the two seasons of tournament polo but also allowing for practice chukkas 12 months a year. For players and socialites, the southern hospitality in Aiken is welcoming and embracing, making it a truly rewarding and fully entertaining experience.”

In China today, the sport has been developing for the past 10 years, and has been discovered by the new rich, who are keen to learn the fine art.

One of the best facilities, the Tianjin Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club,which is owned by Goldin Properties Holdings, describes itself as being the largest polo club in the country and prides itself on being a retreat for China’s “new nobility” – with the best equestrian facilities. There are three polo fields with 300 stables; its sumptuous hotel has 12 restaurants whose wine cellars have only the finest vintages; and plenty of real estate to acquire.