Teenagers in pastoral areas of Tibet attend taekwondo camp

Students of Nyangpo Township Central Primary School practice taekwondo in the camp. (Photo/ Xinhua)

60 teenagers in pastoral areas of Tibet attend taekwondo camp accompanying joy and harvest.

LHASA, April 13 (Xinhua) -- The second Tibet youth taekwondo camp ended at Basum Co youth activity campsite in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region on Tuesday, with 60 student-campers in the five-day camp learning the basic etiquette and gestures of taekwondo.

The students are all from a central primary school in Nyangpo, a town situated over 4,100 meters above sea level with a heavy focus on herding livestock in the region's Kongpo Gyamda county, in Nyingchi city.

Seven-year-old Tsele Yudron was the youngest student in the camp, and after learning the basic gestures of taekwondo, said he dreamed of being a taekwondo coach when he grows up.

"It was so cool! I have always liked taekwondo and I felt very happy after winning the white taekwondo uniform at the camp," ten-year-old camper Tenzin said.

11-year-old Aphel came to Nyangpo Township Central Primary School after being relocated from Qamdo city amid poverty alleviation measures. As a team leader, Aphel was tasked with taking care of her team members.

School headmaster Li Jianyuan said he was grateful that the regional Youth League Committee and practice base allowed students to study taekwondo. "This was the first time for the children to participate in a cost-free camp with allocated fields and professional teachers," said Li.

Established in 1993, Basum Co youth activity camp has held more than 180 activities for over 30,000 teenagers in the region, Huang Zheng, the director of Tibet's youth practice base, told Xinhua.

"Later, the camp tends to welcome more students from pastoral areas so that they will have more opportunities to learn taekwondo," said Huang.