In Gaoming district of Foshan city, Guangdong Province in southern China, more than 10,000 runners from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao joined international marathoners as the starter’s gun sent them along a sunlit ribbon of fields. Clad in colourful kit, the pack threaded a scenic route while rippling rice paddies supplied a golden backdrop.

The event was the 2025 Foshan Gaoming Rice-field Marathon. Full and half courses of over 42 kilometres and 21 kilometres weave through Gaoming district’s unique ecology, linking rice-boardwalks, lakes and hills. Rice scent, lotus ponds and traditional mullet-in-pond farms stitched a living, rural panorama along the route.

Hong Kong Participant:

"The National Games have let me feel the strong sports atmosphere in the Greater Bay Area. We have running friends from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, and we formed a team to join the race. It only took me over an hour to get here from Hong Kong by high-speed rail—transportation is so convenient! This is a great chance to deeply experience the rural charm of the Greater Bay Area."