Zhejiang province launched a rural sports meet in Tonglu county, Hangzhou on June 16 to enrich the lives of rural residents.

More than 400 participants competed in five events - Chinese chess, tug of war, ping pong, a physical fitness test and zongzi-making. The zongzi is a special kind of rice dumpling consumed during the Dragon Boat Festival. 

Local residents compete in making zongzi, a special kind of rice dumpling consumed during the Dragon Boat Festival, at a rural sports meet in Tonglu county, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province on June 16. [Photo/zj.zjol.com]

Held by the publicity and sports departments of Zhejiang, the sports meet include preliminaries and division races in many villages throughout the province. It will last until November.

At the launch ceremony, Chen Yufei, a badminton world champion from Tonglu, sent her regards to the locals via a video recording. Representatives from the 11 cities in Zhejiang also called for more rural residents to participate in the meet.

Local residents compete in the tug of war at the rural sports meet. [Photo/zj.zjol.com]

Hu Guoping, deputy director of the sports department of Zhejiang, sent ping pong bats, volleyballs, basketballs and other sporting goods to participants. The goods all bear signatures of several sporting greats including those of Olympic champions.

"The sports meet serves as a window for people elsewhere to learn more about Zhejiang and will boost the sports sector of rural areas," said Sheng Shihao, deputy director of the publicity department of Zhejiang.

Local authorities said they aim to promote the rural sports meet throughout the province within three years.

The rural sports meet is an important part of Zhejiang's efforts to promote the construction of rural cultural halls to enrich rural people's life. Zhejiang aims to be home to more than 17,000 rural cultural halls by the end of this year. 

Local residents compete in a game of Chinese chess at the rural sports meet. [Photo/zj.zjol.com]