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Walking their way to health, longevity
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| By£ºZheng Yanyan¡¡2005-5-31 7:57:11 |
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DALIAN: With green trees all around, a blue sky above and sunshine shining
on their faces, 200,000 walkers set off on a hike to promote good health.
With the starting pistol shot by an 86-year-old citizen, Li Jieyan, the
Third Dalian International Walking Festival was launched in this port city on
Saturday.
The two-day event drew 230,000 people with some 200,000
participating in Saturday's rally alone.
Participants could enjoy the
natural scenery while walking. They could choose to walk 5, 10, 20 or 30
kilometres.
People who were strangers walked, talked and laughed
together during the walk.
The youngest registered hiker was six months
old. Children, some running and playing, could be seen everywhere. Some were
pushed along in their prams by their parents.
Sun Xinian, 94, was the
oldest walker. He missed the starting ceremony, but said he would finish the
walk.
The most romantic scene was a team of 100 newlyweds.
The
crowds were moved by 300 disabled people who participated. With the help of
wheelchairs or volunteers, they were able to walk for five kilometres.
Deaf people read messages on others' backs for the blind.
Various
slogans like "walking to be in a good mood" on T-shirts showed people's
characters.
One little girl and her grandpa walked hand in hand, with
the slogans "stick to victory" and "walking spirits handed down to the next
generation".
Around 1,000 foreigners took part.
One who was in
the city on business called the event "nice, healthy and sporty."
Dalian
has applied to join the International Marching League, which has 23 members
around the world. Dalian is the only candidate city in China.
Last year
about 28,000 people took part in the event.
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(Editor:Caroline Wang) (From:China Daily )
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