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• Touchline • Issue 14
ith Chinese athletes continuing to snag medals in international
sporting competitions, it is worth looking over the shoulder of the
Dragon to see where this sporting prowess comes from. Chinese
traditional sports are colourful and crazy, elegant and dangerous, as
diverse as China itself.
The Middle Kingdom is old and has a sports culture that developed without any influence
from the west. Some of the classical Olympic sports simply have no counterpart in the
range of Chinese sports, but clearly the urge to compete and to show fighting skills
were at the forefront when these sports were developed. Traditional sports are very
much part of the ethnic culture of the Chinese people.
CHINESE
TRADITIONAL SPORTS
Dragon boat
Racing remains
a popular sport
In china
For many centuries,
China has competed
in cultural sports
that still capture the
imagination of the
people, writes
Timothy Mottram
W
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