Losang Dawa, a 56-year-old Tibetan farmer, brought down the house in Nanmuxiangjiang Village, Quxu County, Tibet's capital of Lhasa, on Saturday when he hit the tip of oxhorn in the game of "Dieguo."
A Tibetan villager (Front) competes in a traditional game, in which participants try to shoot an oxhorn with stones, in a village of Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, on Feb. 20, 2010. Local people played this game during the Losar to pray for a good harvest in the coming year, photo from Xinhua.
"Dieguo," a traditional Tibetan folk sport, means "using a stone to hit an oxhorn" in the Tibetan language. Tibetans usually get together to play the game in celebration of the Tibetan New Year, according to their tradtion.
The game of "Dieguo" is usually played during the Tibetan New Year and involves three rounds with players being the male members of a family. Players can throw a stone at a 30-meter-away oxhorn once in each round.
After receiving hada(a piece of silk used as a greeting gift among the Tibetan and Mongol nationalities), highland barley liquor and blessings from his fellow villagers, Losang Dawa said gladly: "If a player hits the tip of an oxhorn, he will receive an auspicious hada and highland barley liquor; if he only hits the bulk of an oxhorn or misses the target, he has to drink highland barley liquor as a punishment, according to our tradition."
All the villagers were dressed in their holiday best to cheer up the players. "Dieguo" also attracted about ten tourists and passers-by. The hospitable villagers presented hada and highland barley liquor to them with blessings.
After the game, villagers performed the Gorchom circle dance in a festive atmosphere. The annual "Dieguo" usually lasts three days in Nanmuxiangjiang Village during the Losar, with other villages also holding similar activities to mark the new year.
While modern sports are thriving in Tibet, traditional folk sports still lure the Tibetans to participate. Many Tibetan villages voluntarily organize tug-of-war, wrestling and horse-racing for the Losar.
