The grand opening ceremony is held for the 5th Games of Lishui on Oct 18. [Photo/WeChat account: wxlishui]

Excitement and anticipation reached fever pitch on Oct 18, as the 5th Games of Lishui kicked off in the prefecture-level city, which is located in East China's Zhejiang province.

The Lishui Games – held every four years – is the city's biggest and most comprehensive sporting tournament, with the most participants and the most competition events.

Statistics showed that the number of participants in the current games – including athletes, coaches, referees and staff – total more than 8,000, with those participating ranging in age from 7 to 81 years.

The competition areas have been divided into mass sports and athletic sports. The mass sports sector has 164 individual events in 15 major categories – including track and field, basketball, table tennis, badminton, tennis, futsal indoor soccer and Go.

The athletic sports sector has 250 events in nine major categories, including track and field, swimming, football and volleyball.

Different events will be held in different regions throughout the city. The games will run through to  November.