Yang Ling, China's shooting gold medalist in 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games, teaches local students kickboxing at the 4th All-China Games in Hefei, East China's Anhui province, May 19 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

   

HEFEI, East China - Accompanied with a slow music, Qigong master Lai Jianhui preformed a graceful, flowing combination of movements. As the music faded away, applause thundered forth.

A discipline of the 4th All-China Games, Qigong, which has an over 1000-year history, has enchanted many citizens in the host city Heifei.

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Wu Meiyu, a 57-year-old retired worker, watched every Qigong competition. "Their performances were really fantastic," said Wu. "My friends and I have practiced Qigong for more than 15 years, but I cannot perform so well as these athletes. I really want to learn from them."

Lin Liqun, a college student in Hefei, watched all the dragon boat races.

"Traditional ethnic sports are the wealth of Chinese culture. It's wonderful to see so many of them in a national sports event," said Lin.

As a few traditional ethnic sports had extinguished, some experts have called for greater efforts to preserve them.

Sheng Zhiguo, an official at the State General Administration of Sports, said that the All-China Games serve as a platform to promote traditional ethnic sports.

"A lot of traditional sports like Qigong and dragon boat racing are of great Chinese characteristic. People still like to watch these sports and even take part, so we should continue to protect and promote these traditional ethnic sports," said Sheng.