They live in different places. They belong to different ethnic groups. But they have one thing in common _ a strong will to pursue their dreams.
"My dream is to do something for my family," said Guangxi's Wei Yangzhe, who won the first prize in women's bamboo drifting at the 10th Chinese Ethnic Games here.
Standing on a seven-meter-long bamboo pole and using a much thinner bamboo in hands as an oar to glide on water, Wei looks like a steersman on a boat.
Wei was born in a poor family in Liujiang County, Guangxi Province. As the only university student of her family, Wei was placed great expectations. But she didn't get full support from her family when she started to practice the sport.
Wei's father was angered when she refused to go back home on Tomb Sweeping Day, or Qingming Festival, a traditional Chinese festival for honoring ancestors and the deceased.
"I love this sport so much," Wei explained.
Wei cried when her father offered a word of encouragement over the phone after she claimed the top prize at the Ethnic Games.
"It's a great reward to get my father's support," Wei said.
Unlike Wei, Li Dan's sport is racing on a real boat. Yet, affection is the same.
"I don't cry very often. But most of my tears go to dragon boat," said the 30-year-old Li.
As a Beihua University student, Li was selected to take part in winter dragon boat race in 2002. Li and her teammates trained in such cold conditions that sweat froze very soon. For some moments Li couldn't help crying.
Li became a professional coach after graduation. Being a young and female coach, Li was often looked down upon. But she shrugged off all the skepticism choice but to lead the team to train harder and harder. Perseverance eventually paid off.
In 2013, Li's team won the title in a national tournament. When her team clinched two golds at the Asian championships one year later, Li could not hold back her tears any more.
With national and continental titles in hand, Li now has an even bigger dream.
"I hope that dragon boat racing would feature at the Olympic Games one day and I could stand on the Olympic arena," said Li.
Dream for contribution. Dream for participation. There is also dream for bigger challenge.
China's most famed high-wire daredevil Adili Wuxor announced during the Ethnic Games that he will attempt to walk above the Taiwan Strait.
"I have planned a tightrope walk across the Taiwan Strait for years,"said the 44-year-old Uygur, who has several records listed with the Guinness World Records organization.
"It will be the first high-wire stunt above the sea."
Adili's feats include high-wire walks above the Yangtze River in 13 minutes and 48 seconds and between two apices of Hengshan Mountain in central China's Hunan province, the longest walking distance on a 1,399-meter-long wire at a height of 436 meters.
