Rugby fans from 25 countries compete on Gulangyu Island

More than 220 rugby players from 16 international rugby clubs nationwide attend the rugby club friendly match held on Gulangyu Island, Xiamen on May 12. [Photo/xmnn.cn]

A rugby club friendly match started on Gulangyu Island, Xiamen on May 12 to celebrate the first anniversary of the island's listing as a world cultural heritage.

More than 220 rugby-playing representatives of 16 international clubs nationwide, 85 percent from outside China, attended the competition.

After fierce competition, the Guangzhou Yangcheng team, the Xiamen Typhoons, and the Hangzhou Harlequins Rugby Club rounded out the top three.

The organizers of the friendly match Gulangyu sub-district said that after 10 years' development the rugby match has become an island tradition and the largest international amateur rugby match in China.

The competition not only acts as a platform where international rugby fans compete with each other, but also advocates the perfect integration of Chinese and western cultures on the island.