Bullfight in rural Zhejiang draws large number of visitors

Bullfight, a folk entertainment with a history of thousands of years in Yiwu City of east China's Zhejiang Province, was held over the weekend as part of a series of culture and tourism activities.

The competition started at around 14:00 on Saturday in a small ring of Kuzhutang Village, attracting thousands of spectators to watch. They shouted and cheered, forming a warm atmosphere.

A pair of sturdy buffaloes that weigh over 800 kilograms were fighting each other. The two lowered their heads and clasped their tails, fighting each other vigorously. After a while, the loser fled in panic, while the winner chased after him.

In bullfighting, the bull's horns are sprayed with paint before entering the arena. When the horns intersect and rub against the paint, the game starts. Within six minutes, if one side loses and flees, the winner will enter the next round. The top three are not subject to time limit, and will compete until one side flee.

"They were locked in a fight with neither one of them admitting defeat even when they had blood on their heads. They fought for half an hour before the end of the match. I think this match is so exciting," said He Jianmin, a spectator.

"We rarely see a bullfight here. Today's bullfight contest was very exciting. In particular, a group of bulls fought for nearly half an hour and neither of them admitted defeat. I think this fighting spirit was great," said Song Jianbo, another spectator.

The bullfight was held for the first time last year in the village with 16 bulls engaged in a demonstration match, attracting over 20,000 tourists within three days. This year, the contest scaled up with 40 bulls divided into two groups to fight for a final victory.

"This year, the number of tourists exceeded 40,000, which is twice as many as last year. They are expected to increase the village's collective economic income by more than 400,000 yuan (about 55,000 U.S. dollars), and help the villagers rake in over 2 million yuan (about 276,000 U.S. dollars). For tourists here, they can not only appreciate the bullfighting culture, but also taste a variety of delicacies at snack stands in the village," said Wu Weixian, secretary of the Kuzhutang village Party branch.

Bullfight in rural Zhejiang draws large number of visitors

The 2024 Shanghai Tower Vertical Marathon, the world's tallest and largest vertical race, took place on Sunday, attracting more than 2,000 athletes from over 20 countries and regions.

The event was held in Shanghai Tower, China's tallest skyscraper. Participants in the full individual race had to climb 3,398 steps to reach the finish line at the 119th floor at a height of 552 meters.

Olympic cycling champion Zhong Tianshi led a group of front runners to start from the ground floor at 08:20, and then the individual full course runners set off in turn at 30-second intervals.

In the men's competition, Japan's Ryoji Watanabe emerged victorious, completing the climb in 18 minutes. The Women's Individual Championship was claimed by Croatia's Tea Faber, who conquered the stairs in 21 minutes and 26 seconds.

"[It's a] very very long race. The track is very long. I had to keep my mind calm to climb my way up," said Watanabe.

"This is my fourth time here, and I won two times. I like Shanghai," said Italian female mountain runner Valentina Belotti who took the second place in the race.

As a self-owned brand event created by Shanghai, the Shanghai Tower Vertical Marathon was founded in 2017 and is currently the top-level event with highest competition building in the world.

In order to motivate more Chinese runners and marathon enthusiasts to participate, the event also set up a special award for Chinese athletes and the shorter "fun race" for amateur runner, which took climbers to the 22nd floor.

"I kept climbing without a stop. It's really a self-challenge, giving me the strength to go higher," said Huang Jing, a participant.

Int'l elite vertical marathoners contest in China's tallest skyscraper