Field hockey players reunite in hometown

The members of China's first women's field hockey team reunited in Nierji town of Daur Autonomous Banner of Morin Dawa, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, on Sunday.

They recalled the good times of the past and played a friendly match.

Field hockey — called beikuo in the Daur language — is a traditional sport with more than 1,000 years of history. It is the pride and symbol of the Daur people.

Historically, a sport called "hitting a ball while walking", which is similar to the present sport of field hockey, was popular during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). It gradually disappeared.

But the field hockey tradition has been inherited from one generation to another in the Daur region. In 1976, the first national field hockey team was founded in the banner, filling a gap in China's list of national sports. Four years later, the country's first women's field hockey team was officially established.

Children as young as a few years and people as old as 70 or 80 years, can show off their skills by swinging a club.