Camping, hiking and other activities that could damage cultural relics, buildings, structures and natural landscape have been banned in Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes Conservation Zone, Dunhuang Academy in Northwest China s Gansu Province, which oversees the grottoes, announced on Tuesday.
First published on Thu 3 Jun 2021 09.09 EDT
China has indefinitely suspended extreme sports events, including ultramarathons, trail running and wingsuit flying, in response to the deaths of 21 long-distance runners in Gansu last month.
Extreme weather hit Yellow River Stone Forest trail race in Gansu province a few hours into the race on 22 May as many of the competitors were crossing a remote and treacherous part of the 100km mountain track. Of the 172 competitors, 21 died and eight were injured. Scores of competitors sheltered in caves, some rescued by residents from nearby villages.
On Wednesday the General Administration of Sport announced an indefinite suspension of all “high-risk sports events with unclear management responsibilities, imperfect rules and unclear safety protection standards”. These included cross-country running, wingsuit flying, ultramarathons and desert races, “in order to fully guarantee the health and to safeguard the lives of the people”, it said