Papua
2 min readThe papuz game is the Uygur’s traditional sport event with a long history，which is similar to the modern hockey and is popular among the farmers andthe youth in the south area of Xinjiang.The papuz game is usually held in slack seasons and is a recreational activity at the nowruz Festival The papuz game has different requirements on ground equipment，and is usually held by the farmers in the slack seasons or on holidays the game is carried out by two teams having equivalent players.Each team usually has 7-9 players.
The size of a playing ground is determined according to the player number or the terrain the both sides firstly draw a base line at two ends of the ground and arbitrarily place two objects at two end points to serve as goals.the players of both sides respectively hold a game stick about 80 cm long with one end being bent about 15-20 cm.a small circle with the diameterabout 20 cm is drawn at the center of the ground to serve as a faceoff circle During the match，an ellipsoidal ball made of hard wood should be placed in the small circle at the center of the ground and the representatives of both sides scrummage for the ball.after the ball is batted outwards from the circle the players of the both sides hold the stick to scramble for the ball to drive it to the goal of the opposite side.
The victory or defeat is determined by the times of attacking the goal.If the scores of the both sides are equal to each other，the playing time can be prolonged During the match，the players arenot allowed to block the ball by the body and must not hit any part of the opposite player’s body.The lifting height of the club should not be higher than the waist of the player when he is batting the ball.the sport is physically active，strongly confrontational and very interesting.
The papuz game ball is as big as an apple and is made of hardwood, such as apricot wood. the wooden game ball is called”shak shak”(the objectmoving quickly in Uygur language). Sometimes, the ball can be made of intertwined thick threads.
