Heavy rain in the morning did not dampen visitors' passion for a moment. On August 8, the anniversary day of the Beijing Olympic Games opening ceremony, tens of thousands of people swarmed into the National Olympic Sports Center to celebrate the weekend and the National Fitness Day for which the National Fitness Carnival was a big attraction from August 7 to 9.

On the overcrowded second floor of Olympic Sports Stadium, stands introduced many rarely-seen folk sports, such as bowling a hoop, throwing sandbags, kicking shuttlecocks, rope skipping, sheep kneecaps grabbing, spinning a top, etc. Many older people present were itching to try as the displays brought back sweet childhood memories of the amusements that held their attention before the present age of electronic or web-based games.

"Marvelous! I haven't bowled a hoop for more than 30 years! This really brings back sweet childhood memories. I can't believe I can find these historical folk sports here," said one man in his fifties as he eagerly recalled his all skills.

A man born in 1950s is bowling a hoop. [By Ni Yuanjin/China.org.cn]

Meanwhile, many state-owned company staff came to the fitness carnival to play various ball games.

Ten-year old twin sisters He Yuting and Yang Yuqing were the rope skipping queens of their age group. The grade-three pupils said they engaged in rope skipping every afternoon after class. "They are always the first and second in the rope skipping contests held by the school. They can skip more than 200 times per minute," according to their mother. "There are many sport activities held by the school after class but they love this the most," she added.

Twin sisters He Yuting (elder one, left) and Yang Yuqing (younger one, right) are engaged in rope skipping. The rope skipping queens in school still perform best in the National Fitness Carnival of their age group. [By Ni Yuanjin/China.org.cn]

Ms. Ma is a retired athlete of Jiangsu Province and lives in Beijing now. She was a shot putter and a long jumper in her younger days. She was spinning a top while her 17-month-old son ran after it. The mother was so surprised when seeing hoops and tops again. And her son, Xie Xie (which means thanks in Chinese) was so excited when seeing his mother spinning a top that she gave him one and taught him how to spin as well. The youngest player that day could run when he was only nine months, according to the athletic mother. "Xie Xie has an excellent athletic ability, like me," Ms. Ma proudly said.

The youngest 17-month-old Xie Xie is so curious of his new toy, a top. He is spinning the top and keen to learn the new game. His mother Ms. Ma, a retired athlete, feels proud of her son, laughing. [By Ni Yuanjin/China.org.cn]

Kicking shuttlecocks, rope skipping and other Chinese folk sports such as sword-dance, rural folk dance and Taijiquan can still be easily seen in city parks and remain a popular choice for keeping fit among tradition-minded Chinese people.

The youngest 17-month-old Xie Xie is so curious of his new toy, a top. He is spinning the top and keen to learn the new game. His mother Ms. Ma, a retired athlete, feels proud of her son, laughing. [By Ni Yuanjin/China.org.cn]

Apart from the folk sports area, other 31 function areas absorbed almost 30,000 people on Friday and over 50,000 people on Saturday, according to the National Olympic Sports Center.

During the three-day National Fitness Carnival, seven venues, including three Olympic competition venues (Olympic Sports Gymnasium, Ying Tung Natatorium and Olympic Sports Stadium), four training venues (Training Gymnasium, Multifunctional Training Gymnasium, Hockey Training Courts and Football Training Fields) were open free to the public.

A young lady is kicking shuttlecocks together with a group of six people of all ages besides her.[By Ni Yuanjin/China.org.cn]

(China.org.cn by Ni Yuanjin August 10, 2009)