International equestrian festival commences in Inner Mongolia

An opening ceremony of China Inner Mongolia Horse Racing and the 6th Inner Mongolia International Equestrian Festival is held at the Inner Mongolia Ethnic Minority Mass Culture and Sports Activity Center in Hohhot, the capital of North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region on June 29. [Photo/people.com.cn]

An opening ceremony of China Inner Mongolia Horse Racing and the 6th Inner Mongolia International Equestrian Festival, which also marks the start of the China (Inner Mongolia) International Horse Culture Expo, was held at the Inner Mongolia Ethnic Minority Mass Culture and Sports Activity Center in Hohhot, the capital of North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region on June 29.

Over 6,000 people from all over the country attended the opening ceremony. More than 20 equestrian associations and institutions sent congratulatory letters, and Wu Jing, the star and director of the Chinese box-office smash Wolf Warrior 2, accepted the invitation as the ambassador of the China International Horse Culture Expo.

At the opening ceremony, all the attendees performed the patriotic song My Motherland and Me and enjoyed wonderful performances.

Once the performances ended, Wu Jing rode a horse and took the lead when the opening instructions were issued and led 800 Mongolian horses to gallop across the Inner Mongolia Ethnic Minority Mass Culture and Sports Activity Center (main venue of the event).

In recent years, Inner Mongolia has vigorously promoted the high-quality development of modern horse industry, further promoted the integration of culture, tourism and sports. 

Nowadays, it has basically formed a relatively complete industrial chain of horse-breeding, horse-training and horse-racing, and has become a well-known horse cultural tourist destination at home and abroad. 

At present, the region has the largest number of horses in the country, reaching 935,000, accounting for nearly 15.6 percent of the total number of horses in the country

Wu Jing (left), the star and director of the Chinese box-office smash Wolf Warrior 2, is invited as the ambassador of the China (Inner Mongolia) International Horse Culture Expo on June 29. [Photo/people.com.cn]