"Rice Bucket Racing" in Minzhong Town.[File photo/Zhongshan Daily]

As the Labor Day is approaching, many ecological farms in Minzhong Town are gearing up for the programs including the rice bucket racing to welcome the peak passenger flow.

A rice bucket was an indispensable agricultural production tool for farmers in Xinping Village and other regions of Minzhong Town in the 1950s and 1960s. In the leisure time, the farmers would sit on the rice bucket and row through the fields and rivers. Rice bucket racing gradually becomes a leisure activity for local farmers.

With the upgrade of agricultural production equipment, rice bucket gradually fades out of sight. In recent years, the reappearing rice bucket and relevant activities have been combined with eco-tourism, showing their vigor again. 

As a traditional sport, recreation and acrobatics event, "Minzhong Rice Bucket" was selected into the seventh batch of representative projects of the municipal intangible cultural heritage at the end of last year. The imprint of times and the regional cultural attributes behind the rice bucket were expected to be excavated and highlighted.

In the promotion of eco-tourism projects in Minzhong Town and its surroundings, the popularity of rice bucket racing is rising, making the once-disappeared rice bucket come back to people's life.

Gao Ruqiang, member of the Party Committee and Deputy Town Chief of Minzhong, said that with the addition of competitive elements, a relatively complete set of competition rules and movement requirements was formed for Minzhong Rice Bucket activities.

Minzhong Rice Bucket Racing is carried out in teams consisting of 3 men or women. Participants are required to complete a round-trip race on the 50-meter track, and the team who finishes the race within the shortest time will win.

The unique shape and sports posture of the rice bucket has attracted many attentions outside the town. The relatively easy field requirements and accessible competition equipment enable rice bucket racing to develop into a fitness exercise for local people. "For the local people, rice bucket racing is not only a sport event, but also a mark of local culture and people's spiritual sustenance," said Gao Ruqiang.

In order to protect and promote the rice bucket and its relevant activities, Minzhong Town has declared it as the representative project of intangible cultural heritage for systematical development. Meanwhile, the town has mobilized the general public to pay attention to and participate in the rice bucket activities by taking it as one of the competitive events in the annual waterside games.

According to Gao Ruqiang, Minzhong Town also plans to guide and encourage older artists to pass on skills by establishing art studio and other means. (from Nangfang Daily)