The ninth Ningxia Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities kicked off with an eye-dazzling opening ceremony in Yinchuan, capital city of Ningxia Hui autonomous region, on Thursday, with 2,182 participants among nine delegations from cities and universities around the region.

Fourteen competitive sports with 49 disciplines and 19 exhibition sports will be included in the five-day games. The competitive portion involves traditional ethnic sports such as ethnic wrestling, stilt racing, shuttlecock games and top spinning, which are inspired by the daily lives and activities of ethnic groups. Some sports have been listed as intangible cultural heritage programs.

The Ningxia ethnic games first took place in 1986. The region also participated in all national ethnic games while hosting the seventh national games in 2003.