Young dancers compete during the Hua'er Cup dance tournament in Nantong on Nov 28. [Photo/ntfabu.com]

An open dance tournament called the Hua'er Cup was staged on Nov 28 at the Nantong sports center, with more than 400 children and teenagers from across the city taking part, local media reported.

The competition, in its 13th year, was hosted by the city's dance sport association and the sports association and involved eight types of dances in two categories – Latin and International Standard Dance.

All participants were aged 5-14 years old and were divided into three age groups in each dance category.

The Hua'er Cup is the oldest dance competition in Nantong, which has been held annually since 2008. It was founded by Fu Min, a leading dancer in Nantong and an international judge.

Fu said that skills of this year's participants had shown a significant improvement on last year, which was a result of the improving teaching quality at training institutions across the city.

Dance has been increasingly popular among Nantong locals of all ages, Fu said. By the end of 2019, the number of registered amateur dancers in the city had increased to about 30,000 from less than 4,000 in 2012. During this period, the number of dance training institutions also leaped from two or three to more than 20.

Young dancers compete during the Hua'er Cup dance tournament in Nantong on Nov 28. [Photo/ntfabu.com]