When the first rays of sunshine lit up the sky at around 5 a.m., the Tibetan herder couple of Drolmagyal, 65, and Padmakyi, 70, left their flock with neighbors and rode a horse and yak for three hours on mountain roads to the nearest viewing spot for the 11th Tour de Qinghai Lake international cycling race.

"I have never, not even once, missed the race over the last decade," says Drolmagyal, a resident of Jiangxigou village of Hainan Tibetan autonomous prefecture in northwest China's Qinghai province.

"It has become one of the most festive events for herders like us living deep in the mountains," he explains of the fortnight-long tour that kicked off on Friday.

But it was not part of Salrukyile's social calendar until this year. For the first time, the tour's route has been extended to take in the 45-year-old Mongolian woman's hometown, Chaka township of Haixi Mongol and Tibetan autonomous prefecture.

By midmorning on Monday, about three hours before the first cyclist was due to arrive, Salrukyile had made an hour-long bus trip from her village to Chaka and waited at roadside, wearing her best Mongolian robe for the occasion.

"Finally, I can see these cyclists with my own eyes instead of watching them on TV," she beams.

Salrukyile and scores of fellow villagers had prepared a special welcome for the near-150 competing cyclists from across the world. Standing amid crowds of spectators, they keep up a Mongolian chant to welcome the visitors on two wheels.

"We are singing songs intended exclusively for sacrificial ceremonies and weddings," Salrukyile explains. "I hope guests from afar will remember the songs and regards from the prairie."

This year's Tour de Qinghai Lake, for the first time in history, spans Qinghai province, Gansu province and Ningxia Hui autonomous region, bringing world-class cycling to more ethnic groups in the country.

Many of these groups have for generations plied their trade and traveled the steep local terrain on a different type of vehicle, on horseback, but nevertheless have empathy with the hardy riders.

"Riding is our common way of life, and now it is bringing us together," Ma Hailin, a herdsman of Hui ethnicity in Chaka, says while sitting on a seven-year-old white horse.

Ma was one of more than 160 herders from across Chaka, who waited on their steeds on grassland adjacent to the cycling route to race against arriving cyclists. Aged between 13 and 65, these horsemen consisted of Mongolian, Tibetan, Han and Hui people, all in their own traditional costumes.

Ma expected to find out whether his horse, "Mercedes," could beat professional cyclists. Mercedes' saddle, made of fine silver and mounted with agate and emerald, cost more than 30,000 yuan (about 4,761 U.S. dollars). "I only use it for special occasions like a horse race," he says.

The horses of other herders were similarly adorned with flowers and hada, a silk scarf symbolizing blessing.

"Wherever the Tour de Qinghai Lake extends, it helps open people's eyes to the outside world, and draws the world closer to China's diverse ethnic cultures," according to Feng Jianping, the race's chief designer and head of the Qinghai Sports Bureau.