At 7:30 AM on April 12th, the Rongjue Motor 2026 Chongqing Dazu Longshui Lake Half Marathon kicked off passionately by the picturesque Longshui Lake. Six thousand runners from across the country embraced spring in a running posture, measuring the lake’s scenic beauty with their footsteps and experiencing the millennia-old charm of the Dazu Rock Carvings.

The Chongqing Dazu Longshui Lake Half Marathon has been held since 2016, making this its 9th edition. The event deeply integrates the ecological endowments of Longshui Lake with the cultural heritage of the Dazu Rock Carvings, blending the beauty of running into the landscape. With its high-scenic-value lakeside course and high-quality event services, it has polished the “Most Beautiful Ecological Event” and “Longma” characteristic IP, having been awarded the Chinese Athletics Association Silver Label Event and Natural Ecological Characteristic Event “dual certification.” It serves as an important window showcasing Dazu’s ecological beauty, cultural tourism prosperity, and urban vitality.

This year’s event featured a half marathon category, balancing professional competition with public participation, with a scale of 6,000 participants and a total prize pool of 101,400 yuan.

The course was set around Longshui Lake, generally flat and open, with 60% of the route closely following the lakeshore, connecting core scenic areas like Sakura Avenue, the Lakeside Trail, and Bayue Avenue. During the run, participants closely experienced the lake’s scenery and the dynamic beauty of its ecological islands, as if being in a natural landscape painting.

With the Dazu Rock Carvings’ Thousand-Hand Guanyin as its cultural core, the event created a unique experience of “touching the rock carvings while running, perceiving cultural heritage on the track.” Event apparel, participant bags, and finisher packs were infused with rock carving elements. For example, participant bags thoughtfully incorporated Dazu characteristic cultural tourism items like Jielilai Guo-character scissors and Dazu Rock Carvings文创 bracelets. The finisher medal deeply integrated cultural elements of the Thousand-Hand Guanyin, featuring ingenious design with both cultural depth and collectible value. Runners not only gained the glory of finishing but also took away a cultural memory unique to Dazu.

The 2026 Chongqing Dazu Longshui Lake Half Marathon kicks off passionately.

Furthermore, the event’s prize pool had broader coverage. While retaining awards for men’s and women’s rankings and four age group awards, a special outstanding athlete prize pool was established. Athletes whose results met the national second-grade athlete standards for men and women shared in this bonus.

After fierce competition, Zhao Hao won the men’s half marathon championship with a time of 01:07:22. Zhao Fuming secured the men’s亚军 with 01:07:36, and Dai Zhiyong took the men’s季军 with 01:08:50. On the women’s side, Pan Yuanchen won the championship with a time of 01:16:44. Shu Meng finished as亚军 with 01:20:00, and Liu Jiasu took季军 with 01:20:26.

In recent years, Dazu District has actively hosted sports events, exploring new paths of

Longshui Lake

Longshui Lake is a scenic reservoir located in the Chongqing Municipality of China, primarily created for flood control, irrigation, and water supply. While not an ancient historical site, it was constructed in the modern era as part of regional water management and has since become a popular local recreational area known for its peaceful landscapes.

Dazu Rock Carvings

The Dazu Rock Carvings are a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Chongqing, China, comprising thousands of intricate religious sculptures and inscriptions carved into limestone cliffs between the 9th and 13th centuries. They represent a pinnacle of Chinese cave art, uniquely integrating Buddhist, Confucian, and Taoist iconography into a harmonious whole. The carvings are celebrated for their artistic excellence, historical narrative value, and exceptional state of preservation.

Sakura Avenue

Sakura Avenue is a scenic pathway, typically lined with cherry blossom trees, celebrated for its stunning springtime displays. While many cities have their own versions, the most famous is likely in Tokyo’s Meguro district, originally planted along the Meguro River in the late 1920s to beautify the area. Today, it is a major cultural attraction where people gather for *hanami* (flower-viewing) parties, symbolizing the beauty and transient nature of life in Japanese tradition.

Lakeside Trail

The Lakeside Trail is a scenic walking path that typically follows the shoreline of a lake, offering views and recreational access. While not a single historic site, many such trails are created to provide public enjoyment of natural landscapes, often established in the 20th century as part of park systems or conservation efforts. They preserve the natural beauty of an area while allowing visitors to experience it firsthand.

Bayue Avenue

Bayue Avenue is a historic commercial street located in the heart of Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China. It dates back to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) and was traditionally known for its high-end tailor shops and luxury goods. Today, it remains a prominent upscale shopping district, blending modern retail with its rich historical heritage.

Thousand-Hand Guanyin

The Thousand-Hand Guanyin is a renowned Buddhist performance art originating from China, most famously staged at the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon in Hunan Province. It is a modern dance spectacle inspired by the bodhisattva Guanyin, a deity of compassion in East Asian Buddhism, and is performed by a large, synchronized troupe to create the illusion of a single deity with a thousand arms. While not a historical site, the performance draws from ancient Buddhist iconography and was developed in the early 21st century to showcase traditional spiritual themes through contemporary artistic expression.

Jielilai Guo-character scissors

“Jielilai Guo-character scissors” are a traditional Chinese scissor brand originating from Beijing, with a history dating back to the Ming Dynasty. They are renowned for their exceptional craftsmanship, durability, and distinctive “Guo” character trademark engraved on the blades. As a recognized intangible cultural heritage item, they represent centuries of skilled metalworking and are valued both as practical tools and cultural artifacts.

Dazu Rock Carvings文创 bracelets

The Dazu Rock Carvings are a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Chongqing, China, featuring thousands of exquisite religious sculptures and inscriptions carved into cliffsides between the 9th and 13th centuries. “Dazu Rock Carvings文创 bracelets” refers to modern cultural and creative merchandise, like bracelets, that are inspired by the art and iconography of these ancient carvings, allowing the site’s heritage to be shared in a contemporary, wearable form.