The 2010 Chinese National Mountain Climbing Activity kicked off Thursday morning in Guyuan city of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

More than 1,600 mountain climbing fans from 18 provinces and regions gathered at Liu Panshan Mountain in Guyuan city for the competition.

Participants were divided into Competition Team and non-Competition Team. There are 335 contestants from all over the country displaying their skills.

The winners will get a cash prize ranging from 100 yuan (about 14.67 U.S. dollars) to 10,000 yuan (about 1467 U.S. dollars), said the organizers.