Sports enthusiasts embrace desert fun games in NW China's Ningxia

Contestants compete in a tug-of-war event during the desert sports contest at Shapotou scenic spot in Zhongwei city, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. (People's Daily Online/Yan Mengjie)

A desert sports contest was recently held at Shapotou scenic spot in Zhongwei city, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, marking the sixth contest since its inception in 2007.

According to the organizers, the desert sports contest lasts for five days, with seven group events, six individual events and three parent-child events, attracting 1,190 sports enthusiasts to take part. Apart from regular sports events such as desert football, desert volleyball and desert shuttlecock, creative events like climbing sand dunes, desert obstacle races, treasure hunting and a watermelon harvest are also popular and enjoyable amongst contestants.

Compared to previous years, the event introduced a number of experiences related to culture, tourism, and leisure. These included intangible cultural heritage exhibits, agricultural product markets, scenic tours, night lectures, concerts, and even a firework show. The extra experiences served to enrich the event, fully demonstrating the achievements of Ningxia's "Sports + Culture + Tourism" industrial development.

(Intern Xing Yawen contributed to this story.)

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)