Traditional sports with distinct Chinese characteristics are also very popular, including martial arts, taijiquan or shadow boxing, qigong (a system of deep breathing exercises), Chinese chess and weiqi encirclement chess.

Taijiquan is a kind of Chinese boxing, combining control of breath, mind and body. It emphasizes body movement following mind movements, tempering toughness with gentleness and graceful carriage.  Qigong is a unique Chinese way of keeping fit. It aims at enhancing health, prolonging life, curing illness and improving physiological functions by concentrating the mind and regulating the breath. There are various entertaining and competitive sports activities in the minority-inhabited areas, for example, wrestling and horsemanship among Mongols, Uygurs and Kazaks; Tibetan yak racing; ethnic Korean "seesaw jumping"; crossbow archery among the Miao, and dragon-boat racing among the ethnic Dai ethnic minority.