China Archery

The Gyangtse Horseracing & Archery Festival It falls on April 15-18 of the Tibetan calendar, usually around May or June of the Greg orian calendar.

There are different versions of the origin of the festival. During the festival, horse race, archery contest, and other games are performed to entertain people. Religious activities also are part of the event.

While horse racing and archery is popular all over Tibet, festival organizers are proud of the event being the oldest. It w as first held in 1408, when the king of Gyangtse gave a decree marking the period from April 10 through 27 of every year for prayers and sacrificial ceremony for his grandfather with entertainment offered on the 28th. By the mid-17th century, the original ritual ceremonies became symbolic and contests of archery on horseback grew to be the most important events for the festival. Nowadays, with all kinds of entertainment and fairs organized it has become one of the most important festivals in Tibet.

Around May and June every year, people from all over Tibet gather in Gyantse for horseracing, archery, and shooting on gallop, followed by a few days’ entertainment or picnicking. Nowadays, ball games, track and field events, folk songs and dance, as well as barter trade are added.

Full name: Lin Sang
Gender: Female
Height:  168 cm
Weight: 143 lbs (65 kg)
Born: August 17, 1977 in Putian, Fujian, China
Affiliations: Fujian, (CHN)
Country: China
Sport: Archery

Lin represented China at the 2004 Summer Olympics. She placed 11th in the women’s individual ranking round with a 72-arrow score of 647. In the first round of elimination, she faced 54th-ranked Tshering Chhoden of Bhutan.  In a major upset, Lin lost 159-156 in the 18-arrow match, placing only 36th overall in women’s individual archery.

Lin was also a member of the team that won the silver medal for China in the women’s team archery competition (2004 Summer Olympics).