FEELING SPORTY: Two cyclists take a break outside the Olympic Sports Center in Beijing on August 8, the inaugural National Fitness Day (LI XIAO)

Retired 56-year-old Beijing resident Chu Lirong stood outside the city's National Stadium, the site of the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, on August 8. He had just finished performing taiji, a martial arts shadow-boxing exercise, along with 33,996 others to mark the one-year anniversary of China hosting the Olympics. The mass performance set a new world record.

"We didn't perform to our heart's content as the show was cut to less than half an hour due to the rain," said Chu, who was clothed in white silk. "But we couldn't help cheering after hearing from the loudspeaker that we set a new Guinness world record. Dozens of people in my community applied to participate but only four of us were selected for the show, so I feel very proud."

The shadow boxers, ranging in age from seven to 65 years old, performed taiji in a morning drizzle beside the Beijing Olympic landmark and broke the record of 30,648 practitioners set in Luoyang in 2004.

After the performance, State Councilor Liu Yandong declared in the nearby National Aquatics Center the beginning of the National Fitness Day program throughout the country. The Chinese Government has established August 8 as National Fitness Day, with varied events organized across the country to encourage people to exercise more.

Besides the martial arts display, Beijing organizers on August 7 launched a three-day National Fitness Carnival at the National Olympic Sports Center, opening all sports facilities and venues to the public for free.