Iran holds 1st national Wushu festival

Roughly 450 Kungfu enthusiasts from across Iran attended the country's first National Wushu Festival opened Sunday in Tehran.

Athletes and learners performed Chinese martial arts and lion dance at the opening ceremony, receiving cheers and applause from the audience.

Kungfu has been gaining popularity in Iran, where about 200,000 people practice China's martial arts, said Amir Sedighi, president of Iran's Wushu Federation, organizer of the event.

The annual competition aims to further promote and popularize the sport, Sedighi said.

Noting that Iranian athletes have won Asian and world championships in recent years, he said Iran plans to send 12 Wushu athletes to the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games.

For his part, the Chinese Ambassador to Iran Chang Hua said that Kungfu originated in China and belongs to the world. More and more friends around the globe, including Iranians, have become fans of traditional Chinese culture, especially Chinese martial arts.

Chang said he hopes the festival will help the Iranian people better understand and enjoy this sport, improve their competitiveness, prepare for the Asian Games, and make unremitting efforts to promote cultural exchanges between the two countries.

Wushu, the official Chinese name for kungfu, is translated into martial arts in English.