A village horse race league with strong local characteristics has played a significant role in driving development of the regional economy, particularly the tourism sector, in Sandu County of southwest China's mountainous Guizhou Province by drawing hundreds of thousands of tourists to the racecourse to watch the stunning horse races and enjoy the performances of riders.
The "Guizhou Village Horse Race" league at the county level has been in full swing in the Sandu Shui Autonomous County so far in the current summer vacation season, with the viewing spots at the Shuidong Duanpo racecourse in the county packed with tourists.
More than 400 horses and over 200 riders from local villages have been competing on racing tracks. Many riders follow local traditions by racing barefoot without standard saddles, gripping the horse firmly with their legs, showcasing the unique charm of rural horse racing.
"I just watched the horse racing and felt that the ethnic minority Shui people are very positive and vibrant. It moved me to tears," said Xiao Manli, a tourist from Beijing.
Beyond watching the horse races, visitors say they've also found the region's culinary and cultural appeal.
"There is so much delicious food here, including sour soup hotpot, sour soup fish and bean hotpot. Even as a visitor from other regions, I find the food very appealing. The people here are warm and hospitable," said Xia Xia, a tourist from Suzhou City, east China's Jiangsu Province.
Beyond the racecourse, local authorities have leveraged the visitor flow brought by the horse races to provide complementary cultural tourism services, including daytime viewing and nighttime leisure activities.
According to statistics from the Sandu Bureau of Culture and Tourism, from January to July 2026, Sandu received a total of 3.9 million tourist visits, generating over 3.9 billion yuan (about 591 million U.S. dollars) in total tourism revenue.
Village horse racing draws tourists, boosts summer tourism economy in Guizhou
Village horse racing draws tourists, boosts summer tourism economy in Guizhou
The ongoing 2026 China International Emergency Management Exhibition has brought together cutting-edge emergency technologies and intelligent equipment in Beijing, showcasing how innovation is reshaping disaster response and safety management.
The exhibition, running from September 8 to 10 at the China National Convention Center, is organized by the International Exchange and Cooperation Center of the Ministry of Emergency Management.
Under the theme "Leading the future of emergency management," the event aims at displaying advanced safety and emergency technology and equipment from home and abroad and promoting the high-quality development of the safety and emergency equipment industry.
More than 400 outstanding Chinese and foreign exhibitors, including leading technology and manufacturing enterprises and research institutes, are presenting over 400 categories of advanced equipment covering aviation emergency response, intelligent monitoring and early warning, comprehensive fire rescue and other fields, along with application scenarios and integrated innovation solutions.
One highlight is a satellite relay station that can help people trapped by natural disasters quickly contact the outside world when communication, power and transportation are cut off.
The device can be made into a small phone that starts up with one button for instant communication, or into a portable satellite base station that allows 200 people within a 200-meter range to make calls and access the internet simultaneously, enabling fast and efficient rescue communication.
The exhibition has also set up special zones for diverse innovation achievements, showcasing quality results transformed from competitions, school-enterprise collaboration and scientific research breakthroughs, to integrate industry, academia, research and application in the safety and emergency field.
As an important program for natural disaster prevention and emergency management under the Belt and Road Initiative, the exhibition has been held annually since 2023, becoming an important platform for supply-demand matching and international cooperation to promote the high-quality development of the safety and emergency equipment industry in China and around the world.
Emergency expo showcases innovation reshaping disaster response
