Tree climbing championship wraps up in Xiamen

The China Tree Climbing Championship, the first international one of its kind in China, came to a close in Xiamen, Fujian province on Dec 10.

Nearly 30 tree climbers from the Chinese mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore were attracted to the competition.

Themed on "Waving in the trees, like a monkey king", the competition invited experts in tree climbing approved by the International Standards Authority to oversee the affair and ensure its fairness.

Five main projects were included in the competition: air rescue, speed tree climbing, tree climbing with a rope, throwing beanbags, and a masters' tournament.

An international theme forum was also hosted during the two-day competition, which invited renowned tree experts and forest workers from home and abroad to share cutting-edge tree maintenance technologies, promoting the development of forest conservation in China.

The tree climbing sport originated in Europe and the US. Xiamen University, a famous comprehensive university in China, offered courses in the sport in 2012, its official introduction to the Chinese mainland.

As opposed to more primitive tree climbers, participants in this sport are capable of shuttling between tree trunks and tree tops to perform various sophisticated actions using ropes and slings.