The story
Nagqu Horse Racing Festival in Nagqu
The grandest traditional gathering in northern Tibet, the Nagqu Horse Racing Festival traces its history to the eighth century and combines horse racing, archery and equestrian acrobatics with a temporary nomadic tent city that forms on the surrounding grassland as Tibetan families arrive on horseback well before the festival's official start each August.
Held on the high grasslands surrounding Nagqu in the northern Tibet Autonomous Region, the Nagqu Horse Racing Festival ranks as the grandest traditional gathering in northern Tibet, with a history tracing back to the eighth century and a modern format that still functions as much as a nomadic gathering as a sporting competition.