Gesar Horse Racing Festival held in Gansu
Recently, the 12th Gesar Horse Racing Festival kicked off at the Gesar Horse Racing Center in Maqu County in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Gansu Province.
“Maqu” means “Yellow River” in Tibetan.
Maqu is also the cradle of legends of King Gesar, the hero of the Tibetan epic. Young Gesar once won a horse racing here and left behind him many beautiful legends. Maqu is also the hometown of one of China’s four most famous horses, the Hequ horse and traditional horse racing culture endures here. In 2010, Maqu was awarded the title of “Hometown of Chinese Horse Racing” by the General Administration of Sports of China and the Chinese Equestrian Association.
At the opening ceremony, hundreds of thousands of people from all over the country enjoyed performances filled with strong ethnic characteristics. 873 horses of 46 teams from Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan, Tibet, and Yunnan will compete in seven events, including traditional events and professional events, over the course of six days.