China News Service — The 5th China Baise Leye International Mountain Outdoor Sports Challenge and the 20th China Leye Asian Climbing Championship 2012 will take place in Leye County from April 25 to 28. A total of 20 top-tier international teams from countries including Sweden, the UK, the US, Denmark, the Philippines, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, Germany, and France will compete in the International Mountain Outdoor Sports Challenge, while over 100 elite climbers from across Asia will vie for glory at the 20th Asian Climbing Championship in Leye—promising an action-packed event.
This edition of the competitions features several highlights: Firstly, it boasts the largest scale yet—both events are international, marking the highest number of participating teams and greatest public enthusiasm in the history of the International Mountain Outdoor Sports Challenge and Climbing Competitions, as well as the highest number of foreign athletes. Secondly, additional competition events and extended time slots within the county town enhance spectator appeal. Thirdly, the race routes have been shortened, but the difficulty level has increased.
To boost spectator interest and challenge the athletes further, this year’s International Mountain Outdoor Sports Challenge has undergone significant changes in route design and event setup compared to the previous four editions. After the opening ceremony on the morning of April 26, the competition will kick off from Luomei Cave, circling Leye County town and passing through its various streets and alleys. Along the way, a 4-person wooden-shoe racing performance will be held at Cultural Square, a climbing wall challenge will be set up on Tianle Road and at Golden Resources International Hotel, and fun activities like back-basket carries will take place along the stretch from Tianle Road to Sanle Road. This ensures that thrilling performances by athletes can be enjoyed from almost any spot in Leye, making it convenient for spectators and adding to the electric atmosphere. Moreover, although this year’s race distance has been shortened from the original 206 km to 150 km, many sections feature rugged mountain paths rarely frequented by humans, with some stretches traversing 50–60 degree slopes accessible only by narrow trails—walking is difficult enough, let alone cycling, earning these segments the nickname "devilish" stages.
The climbing competition has been elevated from a national elite event to an Asian Championship, marking a major step forward for Leye’s climbing scene and aligning it more closely with international standards. The Asian Climbing Championship this year features artificial climbing walls, with events including men's and women's difficulty climbing, speed climbing, bouldering, and a mixed speed relay. Over 100 athletes—all registered with the International Federation of Sport Climbing—will represent the highest levels of climbing development and peak competitive form from their respective countries or regions, delivering a breathtaking yet safe "ballet on the cliffs" at Leye Climbing Plaza.
The raw power of outdoor athletes and the grace of climbing competitors will complement each other beautifully amid Leye’s tiankengs (karst sinkholes) and fissures, creating a moving tableau of harmony between humanity and nature.
Additionally, the awards gala for the International Mountain Outdoor Challenge and Asian Climbing Championship will be one of the event’s highlights. The show will interweave award presentations with performances featuring local Leye music and dance, showcasing the region’s tourism culture and ethnic charm. Employing modern artistic techniques and presentation styles, the gala will blend thrilling song and dance, a dynamic mix of wild and graceful choreography, rich and colorful traditional ethnic performances, captivating folk music, grand and immersive staging, and mesmerizing modern electronic sound and light effects—to vividly express the artistic synergy between tourism, pristine mountain songs, folk customs, and contemporary ethnic dance. It will offer an up-close and direct portrayal of Leye as a hidden travel gem, delivering a powerful artistic impact and emotional resonance for both the audience and the gala itself.
During the "Two Competitions," Leye County will also launch the "China Guangxi – ‘Charming Leye’ International Outdoor Photography Competition" and the inauguration ceremony for the online microblogging travel photography contest themed "That Place of ‘Wind, Flowers, Snow, and Leaves’ – Leye." The China Photography Publishing House will release the photo book "Wandering Through Leye," which will also be unveiled at the launch event to help promote the competitions.
Centered around the theme "Charming Leye," this photography competition will solicit outstanding photographic works from across China between April 2012 and March 2013, highlighting Leye’s economic development, improvements in people’s livelihoods, tourism landscapes, outdoor sports activities, natural ecological preservation, and resource endowments over recent years. Simultaneously, online submission platforms will be available on the websites of the China Photographers Association, Guangxi Tourism Online, Tencent Images, Photography.SIYUEWAJI.com (Colorful Images Without Taboos), Leye Tourism Network, and Feimao Network to showcase entries. After the submission period, a panel of experts from the China Photographers Association and relevant organizers will select the best works from the entries.