(Ecns.cn)--Blinding lights and heavy music fill a small farmhouse-turned hotel near the Getu Valley of Guizhou Province. Its sudden transformation into a night club happened in late October thanks to the arrival of participants in the Petzl RocTrip China 2011, an international rock climbing contest that brings together professional and amateur climbers from around the world.
The event this year was a grand gathering of unprecedented size which is setting a good example of how impoverished locals of the surrounding Ziyun Miao and Buyei Autonomous Counties might cast off poverty and set out on the road to prosperity.
"Gold" finally discovered
Most locals think the limestone mountains that cut them off from the cities should be removed to give way to highways, but to Olivier Balma, an alpine mountain guide who discovered the great arch of Getu in 2007, "there's gold in the hills。"
Balma recalled his first sight of the place, "It was a shock. This spot had the potential to become a world class mountaineering area." Olivier soon organized training courses and staked out over 30 climbing routes within two weeks.
The whole thing took an even more positive turn in 2009 when Erwan Le Lann was scouting for new spots to host the upcoming Petzl RocTrip China. Balma, one of his friends, mentioned Getu.
"I had visited this region before and explored its of beautiful cliffs," noted Erwan, "but then it hit me. The beauty of the river is also bewitching and it's even more amazing when you add the number and variety of styles and difficulties the different sectors offer.
"To be a province of mountain sports," is a goal Guizhou has seized, pointed out Cai Guoxiang, head of the provincial Sport Administration during an interview with the China News Week, pointing out "Guizhou is endowed with abundant high-quality hilly areas. Why shouldn't we tap those natural resources?"
