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Fireworks are displayed during the
opening cereomy of the 6th Chinese National Peasants' Games at the Straits
Sports Center in Quanzhou City, southeast China's Fujian Province, Oct.
26, 2008. (Xinhua Photo)
Photo
Gallery>>> |
By Sportswriters Liu Ning, Li Huiying
QUANZHOU, Southeast China, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) --
Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu declared open the largest-ever National
Peasants' Games here on Sunday night, which was the first multi-sport gala in
China after the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics.
The newly built 32,000-seat Haixia (Straits) Stadium
witnessed a festive opening ceremony with a two-hour amazing performance made by
16,000 people from all walks of life.
As the only regular sports meeting for peasants in
the world, the 6th edition of the Games which debuted in 1988 opened its armsfor
about 3,500 athletes hailing from China's 32 provinces, autonomous regions and
municipalities, including Taiwan. Hong Kongand Macao also sent delegations to
observe the quadrennial get-together.
After two decades of development, the Games now
boasts 15 sports and over 180 events, and has turned into one of the major
sports events in China.
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Photo taken on Oct. 26, 2008 shows a
scene of the opening cereomy of the 6th Chinese National Peasants' Games
at the Straits Sports Center in Quanzhou City, southeast China's Fujian
Province. (Xinhua Photo)
Photo Gallery>>> |
Unlike most games that highlight the limits of
physical strength and competitiveness, the games for peasants emphasizes more on
recreation and less on the results.
The Games not only features traditional sports like
basketball, table tennis, athletics, shooting, Xiangqi (Chinese chess) and
Taiji, also known as shadowboxing, but also has some special ones,such as
tyre-pushing and food-carrying, dragon boating, kite flying, shuttlecocks and
tug-of-war.
Yangko dance, a traditional folk dance commonly
performed in China's northern provinces, is introduced into the Quanzhou Games
this year.
In order to carry out a successful Games, 15 stadiums
and other facilities have been built or refurbished in Quanzhou, one of the
sports equipment production bases in China. The coastal city's economic growth
rate has leapt to the front row in Fujian Province, which is on the west coast
of the Taiwan Straits.
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Chinese national flag is escorted into
the stadium during the opening cereomy of the 6th Chinese National
Peasants' Games at the Straits Sports Center in Quanzhou, southeast
China's Fujian Province, Oct. 26, 2008. (Xinhua Photo)
Photo Gallery>>> |
The Games cost the lion's share of 1 billion yuan
(some 140 million US dollars) invested by the municipal government and private
sectors.
The organizing committee not only provides each
delegation with at least one mini-van and two cars, but also made all the
competitions free for spectators, and all the tourist sites in thecity are free
for the participants of the Games.
Meanwhile, 5,300 volunteers will serve the Games
directly, while around 7,000 city volunteers and hundreds of service stations
scattered around the city will provide guiding and helping service for the
tourists and the Games' participants.
"I hope all the participants will feel at home here.
We will try our best to let them remember a hospitable Quanzhou," said volunteer
Zhang Zhiling, a sophomore from Quanzhou Normal University.
Addressing the opening ceremony, Chinese Agricultural
Minister Sun Zhengcai said, "A successful national peasants' games showcase the
achievements made by the Chinese people in the 30 years of there form and
opening up to the outside world."
"Organizing the games demonstrates that China cares
about the health and welfare of the 900 million peasants," said Zhang Changping,
vice president of the organizing committee.
As more and more Chinese peasants have become
well-off and paidmore and more attention to their physical and mental health,
fieldwork is no longer the sole occupation for them. With such enthusiasm
keeping on, the Chinese peasants spend more time in sports.
