HUGE CROWDS AT THE FB-LIFE ALXA HERO FESTIVAL ARE WOWED BY ONE OF THE MORE THAT 40,000 VEHICLES AT THE ANNUAL EVENT
Thanks to the increasing wealth and prosperity of China’s population, its people have many more choices of how to spend their leisure time, for a very large group that means off-road racing in the middle of the desert
8 October 2019 | Staff Writers/Silk Road News Service (Image: CGTN)
Motor cars and almost everything to do with them have exploded in popularity across the last generation in China. With an increasingly urbanized population a growing number of Chinese motor enthusiasts have taken to off-road vehicles for their city escapes.
The FB-Life Alxa Hero Festival, has been running for 14 years, steadily growing from a small band of enthusiasts who would gather in the north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, to this year’s event which attracted 40,000 vehicles and 120,000 enthusiasts.
Alxa League is a large town of 230,000 people which sees an explosion in its population for five days in October every year. More than 50 activities such as Team-3 (T3) series competition, all-terrain vehicle Grand Prix, music carnivals, auto expo, drift racing and firework show were held during the five-day festival.
One single event attracted 346 vehicles; the most famous off road race on the planet, Paris Dakar, had 171 cars and trucks line up at its latest edition. This year’s Alxa Hero Festival also included a stunt flying show and unmanned aerial vehicle light performance. During the festival, 500 drones flying in designated formation lighted up the sky of Alxa, pleasing visitors with a visual feast of art and technology.
An Inner Mongolia featured tourism commodity fair was also held. About 130 enterprises showcased tourism products, crafts, creative items with local characteristics that ooze the charm of Inner Mongolia’s desert culture, nomadic culture and camel culture.
The festival has grown to a point where it’s put Alxa League on the map year-round with more than 700,000 tourists visiting the small town outside of the festival period. China’s Xinhua News Agency reports in the past twelve months tourism revenue has increased by 47%.
