Low-altitude sports and tourism on the rise in Guizhou

eParagliding is an ideal way to enjoy the natural scenery of Guizhou province. [Photo/ddcpc website]

In recent years, Southwest China's Guizhou province has made significant progress in the development of mountain sports, relying on its natural ecological advantages.

Low-altitude sports stand out as a highlight, with Guizhou not only launching the "soaring Guizhou" sports event, but also integrating low-altitude sports with tourism.

In 2009, the 370-meter-high Baling River Bridge was opened to traffic. In 2013, it served as the site of the China Anshun Baling River Bridge Base Jumping International Invitation Tournament, which gathered extreme sports athletes from multiple countries, who became some of the first to experience base jumping in Guizhou.

In 2019, Guizhou organized a group visit to Turkiye's Fethiye, which is a seaside town known as the "holy land of low-altitude paragliding". During the visit, participants engaged in friendly exchanges with locals and studied the 20-year development experience of low-altitude paragliding in the area.

Five years later, Guizhou and the Fethiye signed a memorandum of friendly exchanges and cooperation in sports, further strengthening their collaboration and accelerating the development of low-altitude sports in Guizhou.

With young people increasingly pursuing diverse and personalized tourism opportunities, paragliding has seen an uptick in popularity. Guizhou has established various sites in Qianxinan Bouyei and Miao autonomous prefecture as well as the cities of Guiyang, Liupanshui, and Zunyi, encouraging people to enjoy various types of scenery around Guizhou.

The continued success and widespread attention paid to low-altitude sports events in recent years are due to Guizhou's balanced development and utilization of resources as well as strong policy support.

In April of this year, the Guizhou Low-Altitude Sports Association was established in Zunyi's Tongzi county, leading to the creation of branded sports events and the integrated development of low-altitude sports and tourism in Guizhou.