Litang Horse Festival

The Litang Horse Festival is a summer horse festival held in the village of Litang in Sichuan province in China. Khampas from all over southern China and Tibet come to trade, celebrate and ride. Khampas are nomads that are Tibetan and are usually herders. The festival is held generally the first week in August, and it usually runs from August 1 to August 7. During the festival horsemanship and horse races are held upon the Tibetan Ponies. These small and fast horses are raced and shown to see who owns the best horse. The horse festival is significant because it helps to establish socio-economic hierarchy in Khampas who participate. A lot of honor and prestige is placed on who owns the best horse. A very large tourism business has been built up on adventure trips and tours provided by companies who cater to individuals who are interested in horses and horsemanship. These companies travel around Southern China and Tibet taking groups of tourists throughout the different villages hosting horse festivals. This benefits the nomads' economy as well as the rest of China's economy.

References

*Downs, James. "The Origin and Spread of Riding in the Near East and Central Asia." "American Anthropologist". 1961.
* [http://www.accesstibettour.com/horse-racing-festival.html Horse Racing Fair and Archery Festival in Tibet]
* [http://highasiatours.com/tripdescription.php?countryid=2&tripid=51 Tours and information on races]
* [http://www.windhorsetours.com/tibet/festivals_yushu_racing.php Horse tours]

External links

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJPkOolUXak Video of horse race]
* [http://www.fotosearch.com/photos-images/lithang-horse-festival.html Photos of horses and races]