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Ninth National Minority Nationalities Traditional Sports Games

2011-11-22 18:36 COC

Date: September 10-18, 2011
Host City: Guiyang, Guizhou Province
Participants: 15,000
Athletes: 6,773
Delegations: 34
Nationalities (ethnic groups): 55
Competitive Sports: 16 (firecracker ball, pearl ball, wood ball, ball-kicking, shuttlecock kicking, dragon boats race, single bamboo drifting, swinging, crossbow, top-whipping, elephants' tug-of-war, stilts running race, Chinese criket, wushu, traditional Chinese wrestling, equestrian skills)
Demonstration Events: 188
Volunteers: 75,000


It was the first time that the National Ethnic Games were held in southwest China's Guizhou, one of the country's most undeveloped provinces, which is known for its beautiful natural landscape and colorful ethnic cultures.

Single bamboo drifting was first introduced to the quadrennial Games this year as a title event. Originated from local people's means of transportation in northern Guizhou Province, it amazed the audience and journalists as well as all other people who were new to the sport.

Rather than a competition for medals, the nine-day, carnival-like meet was more of a happy gathering for China's ethnic groups and . It drew over 6,700 athletes of the 55 Chinese minority nationalities for a total of 16 competitive sports and 188 demonstration events. As a result, all the 34 participating delegations were awarded for their fine sportsmanship in the competition.

As a tradition for the Ethnic Games, all participants took a day off and joined local citizens in a big party, which featured folk shows, interactive games as well as an impressive super long table dinner serving 9,999 guests in Guiyang's Guanshan Lake Park. The party, a regular event by every edition of the Games, aimed to enhance communication and mutual understanding among people of the 56 nationalities across China.

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