The 10th Chinese Ethnic Games opened on Sunday, Aug. 9, in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, as declared by Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong.
The event included 6,240 athletes from all 56 of the officially recognized Chinese ethnic groups, competing or performing in 17 title events and 178 exhibition events for eight days.
The opening served as a display highlighting the different traditions and cultures, with the ethnic groups showcasing their respective dances, songs and costumes. Compared to other sporting events, the Games are much more about featuring the culture of each ethnic group.
As the hosts of the event, ethnic Mongolian artists displayed a performance in memory of the Mongolian hero Genghis Khan.
Zhang Xiaoping, an ethnic Mongolian and boxing champion of the Beijing Olympic Games, lit the torches carried by 56 representative torch bearers from the 56 Chinese ethnic groups. After, all 57 torches lit up the cauldron together.
This year marks the first time ethnic Han athletes are allowed to participate in team events, provided they form no more than one-third of a squad.
The Chinese Ethnic Games serves as a way for the 56 ethnic groups to assemble on a regular basis. It has also played a crucial role in keeping China's traditional sports alive.
According to the website of the Chinese Olympic Committee, the organization that handles the event, the Chinese Ethnic Games "provide a great opportunity for demonstration of multi-ethnic cultures, costumes and, more importantly, the national unity."
The Chinese Ethnic Games has a 62-year history, dating back to the first Chinese Ethnic Games in Nov. 1953. Less than 400 athletes from 13 of China's ethnic groups participated in the inaugural games in Tianjin Municipality, a harbor city located in North China, contesting in sports like weightlifting, boxing, wrestling and archery, as well as exhibiting several other events like wushu, rope skipping and somersaults.
The inaugural games lasted five days, attracted 120,000 spectators and was the first-ever multiple sport event hosted in China after the founding of the People's Republic of China.
It took 29 years before the second one would take place in Hohhot, the capital city of Inner Mongolia, in 1982, with all of the currently recognized ethnic groups represented, excluding ethnic Han.
Since 1991, the Games have happened every four years, featuring the sports, culture and traditions of China's 55 ethnic minorities, which make up less than 9 percent of the country's 1.3 billion population.