2008 people joined a tug-of-war in central China's Hunan province on Sunday, January 6, 2008, in anticipation of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. [Photo:sina.com.cn]

On January 6, a tug of war competition with 2,008 participants was held in Changsha, the capital city of Hunan Province. Cheered on by an Olympic champion, many television hosts as well as stars, the competitors staged their trial of strength, the local newspaper Xiaoxiang Morning Post reported.

Most of the participants were the college students from Hunan University. "The 2008 competitors" was specially designed to welcome the upcoming Olympics in Beijing, by displaying young people's enthusiasm towards the Games and also symbolizing a promising China with vitality in 2008, said the organizers.
 
A special rope was made for the competition, weighing three tons and spanning 1,000 meters. The producer, a cable factory in Jiangsu Province, adopted up-to-the-minute polypropylene materials for its production. The rope has gone through a ten-step testing process; it can sustain a 200-ton pulling force, which qualifies it for a tug of war competition between 20,000 participants.

(China.org.cn by Yang Xi January 7, 2008)