China Archery

When the 1st “Li Guang Cup” International Archery Invitational Tournament took place in the city of Tianshui, Gansu province Sept 9 – 11, it had as many as 50 delegations, with 300 contestants, from China, the United States, France and other countries taking part.

In expressing his pride in the event, Yang Weijun, Tianshui‘s mayor, said at the opening ceremony, “Tinshui expects to carry on the tradition of Chinese archery culture and Chinese sports and continue this archery event,” then he added, “We also hope to publicize our culture this time”.

Tianshui has a long history and culture and is the home of famous figures, such as Li Guang, a general of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24), who was said to have shot an arrow into a rock, and the source of the competition’s name.

Li Guang was known for his bravery and toughness in the battlefield, and was nicknamed the “Flying General” by his Xiongnu enemies.

Sponsors of the event are the Chinese Archery Association and Gansu Sports Bureau.

Source: By Li Xiaoxu (chinadaily.com.cn)
Edited by Roger Bradshaw
Photo/xinhuanet & Tianshui (qinzhou.gscn.com.cn), more photos Read more…

ORDOS, Inner Mongolia, Aug. 12 (Xinhua)
They all come from Nujiang, southwest China’s Yunnan Province, but represent different teams to compete here at the ongoing 10th Chinese Ethnic Games. For these shooters of ethnic Lisu, crossbow is life.
“Our group of people love crossbow, especially the men,” said Yu Siyi,coach of Team Yunnan, the favourite of the traditional crossbow shooting at the ethnic games. “We bring the crossbow along no matter where we are going to and play crossbow shooting almost every weekend.”
Taking aim, firing and competitors trying to hit the bull’s eye, the game of crossbow shooting is similar to archery, but the shooters don’t need to pull the bow while they put the arrow in a slot to fire it with a trigger.
At Nujiang, ethnic Lisu account for almost 70 percent of the 540,000 population. “There are men and women, young and old playing crossbow shooting. Boys even begin to shoot at the age of five and their crossbows are made by their parents,” said Yu.
The traditional crossbow is made of wood and the arrow is made of bamboo. Zhong Xingcai just makes crossbows for living.
“I’m good at making crossbows. I can earn 80,000 to 90,000 yuan every year,” said the craftsman competing for Team Yunnan. Read more…