Annual sports festival in NETDA promotes healthy seniors

Elderly residents gather at the launch ceremony of an annual sports festival for senior citizens at the Nantong Economic and Technological Development Area on April 29.

A sports festival to promote better health for senior citizens started at the Nantong Economic and Technological Development Area (NETDA).

The festival’s theme is “building better health and walking to Beijing.” Senior citizens in the city are urged to jog 3,000 meters every day, and “the total length of the exercise in a year will add up to the distance between Beijing and Nantong.”

At the launch ceremony of the festival, Chen Style Taiji, Kung fu Fan Dancing and ball exercises were performed by teams from different neighborhoods in NETDA.

The festival is held every year in Jiangsu province.

There are around 32,000 people over 60 years old living inside NETDA. Promoted by local sports organizers, more than 20,000 people participate in regularly exercises all year long, forming healthy eating and life habits.

According to statistics, there were 23 people over 100 years old in NETDA at the beginning of 2014.