The two kites are fighting with strings get entangled. Which one is more aggressive? [Photo/Tibet, alone]

The kite is made of Tibetan paper and is very flexible. [Photo/Tibet, alone]

In Lhasa, the kite-fighting participants do not compete for the beauty of their kites, nor the height their kites can reach, but their fighting skills in air.

The unique feature of the kite-fighting is the aerial duels between two competitors with their strings. 

The player can give orders to their fighter through hauling and loosening the string, making it fly up and down, rotate or roll in left and right.

In the competition, the kite whose string is broken and drifts away in wind was seen as the defeated part.

Though the quality of the paper used in making kites is of essential importance for a kite fighter, the kite string is somewhat more important.

In Lhasa's kite-fighting, competitors usually glue a special material called "disintegrated glass powder" on the kite strings.

The material is made through the following steps:

grinding the broken glass pieces into powder;

putting a certain proportion of flour and sugar into the glass powder;

stirring the glass powder, the flour and the sugar up and boiling the mixture in water;

pasting the mixture on the kite string after the mixture cooled down.

Then the mixture on the string is like the teeth of a saw.

During the kite fighting, the strings always get entangled and fight. So in the competition, the player who wind in the line might get his string cut down by his competitor.

The first step is to find the competitor.

The two kites are getting closer.

Their strings have got entangled.

Oh, I win. Go on to find another competitor.

The little girls are playing with his father.

The kite is flying up.

Players are eager to compete in the activity.

The 24-year-old Issus was a kite enthusiast. However, his bad legs condemn him to a wheelchair and he can only play in the activity on the wheelchair. 

"I have played with kites for five years and I feel relaxed and ignited every time I fly kites," said Issus.
It was one of his joys to see kites flying in the air and defeat his competitor in kite-fighting.

Although he was confined in a wheelchair, Issus has fairly nimble hands. He was very proficient in hauling the string, sometimes to the left and sometimes to the right.
Issus won the competition in salvos of applause and cheers.

Coming from France, Marina marveled at the beauty of the kites: "So many kites, so beautiful!"

A moment later, she took up a kite and tried to fly it.

She learned the skills quickly and flied the kite up. "Excellent!" she shouted whenever the kite turned direction.

Can I fly as the kite?