Kite Flying First Time to Highlight Farmers' Sports Meet

A new athletic event highlighting China's 4th National Farmers Sports Meet, kite flying began to be held today at the Nanjiao Airport of Mianyang City, Sichuan Province.

Kite, as the earliest "aircraft" in human history, originated from China over 2000 years ago. Kite flying is a traditional entertainment item in China, which started from the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 B.C.) and caught on during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD).

Outstanding is a 68m-long dragon kite formed of 300 segments, 248cm in diameter, from Heilongjiang Province, which had won third place from Weifang International Kite Festival held at Weifang, Shandong Province, 1996.

It is reported 87 kite flying fans from 18 provinces and cities will join in 16 single events categorized as "Dragons", "Boards", "Soft and Hard Wings", "Cubes", and "Soft and Hard Chains" to compete for 16 golds.

"Kites have all been improved in design, painting and handiwork", told Huang Kewen, umpire of the game. Beijing, Tianjing, Shandong and Guangdong have long been strong rivals in kite flying. More and more farmers have come to embrace the game in recent years. Kite festival has become an annual early spring event observed by people in many places on a township and village scale in China. On top of competitors, Kite flying may draw a large congregation of as many as several hundred thousand in Dayi County every year.

Sixteen gold medals will be finally produced by November 1, following a two days' kite flying schedule.

People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/