THE Barca Experience Haikou Exhibition Center, a Barcelona soccer club themed center in China, opened Sunday in the coastal city of Haikou, Hainan Province.

It is the first center opened to the public since the Barcelona club was founded 119 years ago.

Li Xixun, director of the center, said the Barcelona team will visit the center during a summer tour in 2019.

Visitors can have a digital experience, such as taking free kicks against goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen in virtual reality games.

In China, interest in soccer and Barcelona is growing rapidly. The opening of the center gives fans the opportunity to experience Barcelona’s culture in Hainan, Li said, adding that he hopes fans can feel they are part of the Barcelona family in Haikou.

The opening ceremony was attended by several club representatives, including Barca lengends Eric Abidal and Juliano Belletti; together with Tenniel Chu, vice chairman of the Mission Hills Group, plus local authorities and executives from the China Football Association.

The joint venture between the world’s most famous soccer club and the world’s largest golf facility — with 22 golf courses across two locations — was announced in February 2017 with the aim of helping discover and nurture future athletic talent in China. The project includes an FC Barcelona Experience area measuring 4,000 square meters, a 900-square-meter Megastore, an area for a future restaurant, and a Barca Academy Pro that has been operating since the summer of 2017.

After the official opening ceremony, both parties along with local authorities visited the Barca Experience, a 4,000-square-meter facility that is the largest museum space and experience for any soccer club outside of its own country.

The delegation also visited the Barca Academy Pro, at facilities located around 20 minutes from Centreville within the 22-square-kilometer Mission Hills Haikou resort.

It has been a training center since 2017. Since then, more than 1,200 children have participated in the different programs organized with the same methodology as Barca schools. In this period of time, more than 5,000 young people from Haikou city have also been trained by coaches from the Barca Academy in different campaigns to promote soccer in local schools. (SD-Agencies)