The town that gives weight to sports

A small town in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region is a cradle of weightlifters.

Shi Zhiyong won the weightlifting gold in the 69-kilogram class at the Rio Olympic Games on Aug 10, and more than anywhere else the ripples of his achievement were felt in Wutong, a small town in Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

Since the 1960s, Wutong, with a population of about 60,000 today, has produced more than 70 medalists in international weightlifting competitions, including Tang Lingsheng, a gold medalist at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, United States. In Wutong, people have been practicing martial arts for more than 2,000 years. It has many legends about dalishi, or men with unusual strength, and in front of many homes there are huge stone blocks which residents use in different ways to boost their strength.