Beachside equestrian event set for August
A three-day equestrian competition will be held in Qinhuangdao, Hebei province, in August, according to a news conference in the city on Wednesday.
The Aranya Cup Master Grand Prix will be held on a beach ranch of Aranya, a coastal community in Qinhuangdao, from Aug 11 to 13.
The event is co-organized by the Beidaihe New District government, Aranya's tourism development company and Huang Zuping, the first Chinese to participate in Olympic equestrian competitions. It's also supported by the Chinese Equestrian and the China Horse Industry associations, the sector’s leading management and supervision bodies in the country.
The event is said to be the world's second-largest equestrian competition on a beach, after the 2016 Longines Global Champions Tour on Florida's Miami Beach.
Top riders from China and abroad, including two-time Olympic gold medalist Franke Sloothaak from Germany, Asian Games gold-winner Ramzy Al Duhami from Saudi Arabia and Li Yaofeng, a national champion and one of China’s most promising young equestrians.
They'll ride about 30 Grand Prix-winning horses.
An equestrian carnival will also be staged during the Grand Prix. Huang expects the event will promote equestrian sports among middle-class Chinese families.
