The Hainan team swept both the men's and women's titles in the debuted coconut tree climbing competition at the China's biggest ethnic sports event on Sunday.
This outcome is unsurprising, given that the sport originated in the province as a common practice for picking coconuts.
Held in the city of Sanya, the 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities of China saw the debut of coconut tree climbing.
Participants are required to ascend a rather narrow-looking piece of timber in the quickest time and hit the button at the top. It is a race against time and a battle of techniques. And since this sport's most important apparatus is unique to Hainan Province, it is no wonder that the hosts are pretty good at it.
Luo Jun of the Li ethnic group won the men's title in a time of 6.188 seconds, and Fu Shijun, whose ethnicity is Han, won the women's title in 6.663 seconds. Both are from Hainan and delighted to have the chance to show their abilities in front of a home crowd and promote their sport.
"I'm definitely excited. It never occurred to me that I should win the title, but unexpectedly, I really made it. I'm very excited and thrilled. All of us in Hainan would climb up the three to pick coconuts if we want drink fresh coconut juice. Now thanks to the game, more has come to know the sport of coconut tree climbing, which is good to promote Hainan's traditional sports," said Luo.
"I'm a sprinter, and I believe my training has helped build my explosive power, which gives me an advantage in climbing. When I was younger, I always wanted to climb trees and pick coconuts to drink fresh coconut juice, but I didn't have the strength to do it. Now that I'm stronger, I decided to try the sport and fulfill that childhood dream. Winning the first-ever title at home feels incredible, especially because I can bring glory to Hainan," said Fu.
The National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities, held every four years since its inception in 1953, is primarily focused on mass sports activities. Therefore, the participants are mainly non-professional athletes.
The event, which opened last Friday, will run until this coming Saturday.
Hainan sweeps men, women's titles in coconut tree climbing
An American content creator has given his take on a surprising new viral trend which has taken social media by storm, as global internet users joke about entering a "very Chinese phase" of their lives.
The unexpected phenomenon which is sweeping across the online world shines a new spotlight on Chinese culture and lifestyle, and sees users declare they are "becoming Chinese" alongside the phrase "you've met me at a very Chinese time of my life," accompanied by videos of them adopting Chinese habits on various social media platforms.
U.S. influencer Paul Mike Ashton, known online as 'BaoBaoXiong', gained fame for coining the phrase which led to the "city or not city" meme back in 2024.
As for this latest online sensation, Ashton believes it's not just another amusing meme, but also a casual way to experience Chinese culture through everyday details, rather than abstract stereotypes.
He said the current wave is giving foreign audiences a fresh, tangible perspective on China, which makes cultural exchange more engaging and relatable.
"As a content creator, I absolutely think that this is going to be changing the way people perceive China in general. Oftentimes when we need simplified stories, we need people to see things as a whole unit as opposed to their little parts. I would say even just the practice of doing these things is giving you a chance to engage with the culture and engage with specifics instead of just kind of this big overall idea and getting new experience like 'OK, this particular form of life actually does really feel very nice and very comfortable'. I think it also gives a chance for Chinese creators to take more of a spotlight and actually talk a little bit more about their culture in ways that people will listen because there's a curiosity about this," he said.
Ashton also believes there are other deeper reasons for why this "becoming Chinese" trend has taken off, pointing to the current challenges and level of discontent many people feel in the U.S., which means many are looking for some form of escapism.
"I think I've heard somebody mention before kind of this idea that the U.S., politically and economically, is in a very sensitive time. There's a lot going on and there's a lot of unrest and a lot of unhappiness and a lot of unsatisfaction. So, I think that it's been proposed this idea that people are kind of looking for stuff outside of these sorts of traditional cultural superpowers to kind of find a sense of either excitement or safety or comfort," he said.
Ashton also pointed to how concerns over the future of the popular TikTok app early last year saw many online users flocking over to the Chinese mobile app RedNote as being another notable factor driving the emergence of these online trends.
He said this renewed global interest in Chinese culture has created fresh engagement channels on other international platforms.
"This is almost a year now since the initial TikTok refugee exodus last year in which a lot of people suddenly took interest in Chinese culture in a new way than before. So, I think there's been since then some opportunities to engage with and interact with Chinese culture in TikTok, in international social media, besides just China on its own that definitely I think has influenced this becoming a bigger trend," he said.
US influencer shares thoughts on 'Becoming Chinese' trend
