Miao ethnic group actresses perform folk dance for Thursday's show. Photos by Wang Jing / China Daily

1. One of the many unique carnival designs. 2. The "long-table dinner", was a local tradition of ethnic groups in Guizhou as a way to give guests a special treat. 3. Folk dance of an ethnic group. 4. Tibetan people perform traditional dance.

One of the major events of the ninth National Ethnic Games, which run Sept 10 to 18, was a special show that ran all day, complete with banquet and at least 20,000 guests from various ethnic groups, in Guiyang, Guizhou province, Thursday morning.

The event took place on a day when there were no games, squeezed in between the pomp of the opening ceremony and the splendor of the closing ceremony.

"We're aware of the contrast between the opening ceremony, which had more than 20,000 performers, and this activity, which has only around 1,000 participants, but it is exalted and refined," said Ding Xudong, one of the officials in charge of the mid-games gala.

Ding explained that it was held in Guanshanhu Park in Guiyang's Jinyang district, which is known for its combination of modern architecture and nature. The organizers invited some 15,000 athletes and visitors, including several thousand reporters, with 3,000 volunteers helping out.

"There were well-known singers for the show," said Ding, with a performance from some Olympic champions to add to the magnificence.

Among those performing for the Thursday event were celebrities such as folk singers Tang Can and Wang Zhengzheng, who sang for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

There were also four Olympic champions on hand - Guizhou's Zou Shiming, Yang Hao, Luo Xuejuan and Wang Haibin - who came to cheer on the event.

The gala began at 8 am and lasted for at least eight hours, reaching its climax when 9,999 people from various ethnic groups sat down to dinner at an extremely long table together.

The organizers explained that the long-table event was a local tradition of the Miao ethnic group, as a way to give guests a special treat.

Any major event, such as a wedding or the first month of a newborn baby, calls for the families of a Miao village to pull out the table and get ready to toast to each other.

So, the unique banquet was a focus of the whole process and was one of the largest dinners on record.

The accompanying activities included a program where guests joined local folk singers after the banquet in a round of songs.

The gala was hosted by the Jingyang district, with the government saying it has spent more than 600 million yuan on the city's face lift.

Work on the 70,000-square-meter site in Guanshanhu Park was finished in early July.

The investment showed its real worth in the improvements to eight main streets with more than 3,000 trees added.

There were also at least 3 million potted flowers added as decorations around the city.

(China Daily 09/16/2011 page22)