JAKARTA, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Lion dance teams from China, Australia, Singapore and four other nations will compete in a lion dance international championship in Indonesia this week, the organizing committee said on Wednesday.
The other nations sending their teams are Malaysia, Vietnam, Myanmar and host Indonesia, chairman of the committee Bong Bie Chiung said.
The championship is set to be held from June 21 to 23 in the provincial capital of West Kalimantan province of Pontianak, central Indonesia, according to the committee.
"This is the first of establishment of such event which involves participants from several foreign nations," he was quoted by state's Antara newswire as saying in Pontioanak city.
The sporting event will apply the rules from the international dragon and lion dance federation (IDLF) with nine referees, from China, Malaysia and Indonesia, according to the committee.
Representative of Indonesian barongsai (lion dance) sport organization (FOBI) Arifin Himawan said that he expected the event to help promote tourism in the area.
"We hope that the upcoming event will contribute to the development of tourism in the province," he said.
