Thundering hooves, roaring crowds and strong folk cultural beats set the tone for the National Day holiday in Sandu Shui Autonomous County, Guizhou Province, as a horse racing tournament drew competitors and visitors from across China, powering a local tourism boom.
The fourth Guizhou Village Horse Racing National Invitational kicked off on Thursday to the rhythm of resounding bronze drums and melodious lusheng pipe music, attracting more than 80 riders and 145 horses from over 10 provinces for five days of competition.
Upon opening of the starting gates, jockeys surged down the track amidst deafening cheers from spectators packed along the sidelines.
Beyond the competition, the festival served up a rich cultural feast. Between races, spectators were treated to vibrant traditional dances of the Shui, Miao and Bouyei ethnic groups, alongside jaw-dropping equestrian stunts. Performers executed daring handstands on horseback, synchronized acrobatics and riding pyramids, prompting the crowd to raise their phones to capture every highlight.
Born from the traditional horse racing heritage of the Shui ethnic group, the Village Horse Racing Game has evolved into a massive amateur phenomenon. Sandu County has hosted 26 village races involving nearly 1,000 horses since this January. Running from October 1 to 5, the current tournament boasts 32 more competing horses than last year, with the top prize for a single event reaching 66,666 yuan (roughly 10,000 U.S. dollars).
According to the local tourism bureau, Sandu welcomed over 330,000 visitors in just the first three days of the National Day holiday, a 9.46 percent increase year on year, while tourism revenue jumped 8.64 percent to 255 million yuan, pointing to the fact that village sports can be a powerful engine for local growth.
Village horse racing spurs holiday tourism boom in Guizhou
