Michael Burgess at the Asian Games: Games galore

The ballroom dancing medals have been handed out. The battles in soft tennis go on. And the gold medal rounds in Chess are still to come.

Welcome to the Olympics - Asian style. Much like the huge variety of fare available at your average foodcourt in Auckland, every possible kind of sport is catered for at the Asian Games.

Held every four years, it is the second biggest sports event in the world (after the Olympics).

Around 12,000 athletes from 42 countries will compete but it is the range and diversity of the sports that is staggering and makes it a paradise for the sports nut.

The Asian Games features all 28 Olympic sports plus another fourteen. There are 42 sports and 57 disciplines in total.

Cricket, which hasn't been sighted at the Commonwealth Games since 1998, has been included and the hosts have constructed China's first ever cricket stadium for the privilege. As well as chess, there are also the traditional Chinese board games of Weiqi and Xiangqi.

I can't wait to see the dragon boating; my suspicion is that the battles between China, Hong Kong and Taiwan will be a tad more riveting than the fare served up by corporate teams on Auckland harbour every summer.

Then there is sepaktakraw, which resembles volleyball but uses a rattan ball and only allows players to use their feet, knee, chest and head to touch the ball.

Kabaddi sounds intriguing; it appears to be a mix of wrestling, bullrush and good old-fashioned tag.

Golf is on the menu, as a precursor to its inclusion in London in 2012. Ten pin bowling is also an official sport as is the Chinese martial art of wushu.

As well as ballroom dancing, medals were also handed out in tango, foxtrot, samba, paso doble and cha cha cha. There has been some talk about New Zealand one day entering the Asian Games but this is one event where we would surely not threaten the podium, unless of course alcohol was involved.

And talking of Aotearoa, the sport of soft tennis, a slower version with a spongier ball and one linejudge who sprints from line to line during play could perhaps suit us given our struggles in the faster version in recent years.

- Herald on Sunday

Michael Burgess travelled to China with the support of the Asia New Zealand Foundation, which is an organisation dedicated to building New Zealanders' knowledge and understanding of Asia.