Yangtze River Crossing Festival: 4,700 swimmers take on China's longest river

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02:53

Wuhan is a city in central China with the Yangtze River flowing through it and on Monday morning, the city witnessed a spectacular congregation of nearly 4,700 swimmers creating massive ripples in the river together. CGTN's Chen Zijian has more.

These groups of swimmers are in Wuhan for the 44th Yangtze River Crossing Festival. They arrived at the south bank of the river early in the morning, and are all set swim to the north bank on the opposite side.

CHEN ZIJIAN WUHAN "The swimmers are now waiting for getting into the water, they seem very excited talking to each other. I can hear many different dialects and languages here."

"I come from Beijing."

"I come from Chinese Taipei."

"We come from Shanxi, Yangtze River Crossing Festival here we come."

Most of the swimmers are not professionals but they will swim about 6,000 meters across the river in 47 groups. Many of them, however, have attended the event for more than once.

"Last year was my first time participating in the river crossing festival. I think it's a good experience and also a tough challenge. This is China's greatest river, so I took my son with me this time to cross the river together."

For those, who want a tougher challenge, there is also an individual competition with a shorter distance but with adverse current conditions. Interestingly, this unique swimming event has attracted thirty foreign participants from across the globe as well.

Whether you swim slowly or fast, this annual river-crossing festival is open to every swimming-lover! You can even swim home from here, no matter, where you are from. Chen Zijian for CGTN from Wuhan.