Dengfeng City in central China's Henan Province, where the famed Shaolin Temple is located, now is the country's largest training base for students of traditional Chinese martial arts.

There are now more than 10,000 Chinese martial arts practitioners studying in Dengfeng's 30 special schools and training centers. Over the past 20 years, the schools have trained 250,000 people from at home and abroad, both professionals and amateurs.

Dengfeng was backward and remote until the Shaolin Temple was brought to the world in a movie with the same name in the early 1980s.

Thousands of tourists visit the temple every year to see the Shaolin style of martial arts or to practice the exacting and strenuous skills for themselves. The local government has invited monks from the temple to give martial arts demonstrations and to be coaches for the novices.

Moreover, the city has also opened many martial arts courses in primary and middle schools to introduce traditional culture to young people and help them keep fit. So far, 50,000 students in the city have participated in the training program.

In addition, the city has hosted six international Shaolin martial arts festivals since 1991, attracting 20,000 fans worldwide.

Martial arts professionals from Dengfeng have won a total of 1, 500 medals, the most for any Chinese city, in domestic and international sports competitions. (Xinhua)