On the evening of November 22, the 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as “the Games”) officially opened in Sanya, Hainan. Nearly 10,000 athletes and guests representing all 56 ethnic groups across China gathered for this grand celebration of mass sports and ethnic unity.

The Zhejiang delegation consists of 278 members, including 203 athletes, the largest number of competing athletes in the province’s history of participation. They will compete in 12 competitive events and 7 performance events, including pearl ball, cuju (traditional Chinese football), and dragon boat racing.

According to records, when Zhejiang first participated in the 2nd Games in 1982, the delegation had only 17 members. Since then, the team has grown significantly in size and achieved increasingly impressive results. In the previous Games, nearly 200 athletes from various ethnic groups in Zhejiang competed in 12 competitive events and 10 performance events, winning 32 first, second, and third-place awards. The “Steady Stool” and “Thousand-Hand Fan” performances both won first place in the performance category, while the ethnic martial arts team received the Sportsmanship Award.

This year, Zhejiang sent athletes to compete in woodball for the first time, with all 10 team members coming from Jingning. During the test matches for shuttlecock, woodball, coconut tree climbing, and firework events at the 12th Games, Jingning’s woodball team represented Zhejiang for the first time and secured third place, with hopes for even better results in the main competition.

Furthermore, Lishui University sent 118 athletes, accounting for 58.1% of Zhejiang’s total competing athletes, to compete in seven competitive events and three performance events, making them the key part of the Zhejiang delegation. Traditional ethnic minority sports are a crucial component of Lishui University’s commitment to distinctive ethnic minority education. This marks the tenth time the university has sent athletes to represent Zhejiang in these Games. At the 9th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities in 2011, the university’s athletes won gold in the 4×100 mixed relay clogs racing event, marking Zhejiang’s first-ever breaking gold medal in any competitive event at these Games. This remains Zhejiang’s only first-place finish in a competitive event at the Games.