A man performs a split as he practices Kung Fu at Beihai Park in Beijing, China August 20, 2017. (Photo by Reuters/China Stringer Network)

People fight for the ball as they take part in a mud football match during a festival for celebrating harvest in a village in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, China September 24, 2017. (Photo by Reuters/China Stringer Network)

It’s a tradition that dates back hundreds of years, where two stallions fight over a female to ring the Chinese new year. And when it’s the Year of the Horse, the fights are considered to be even more significant. They’re held in small villages across southern China and have been condemned by animal rights groups, including Hong-Kong based Animals Asia. But those who participate in the events defend the fights and insist they take care of the animals.

A tourist takes photos among fireweed, or kochia scoparia, at an archaeological site park on September 13, 2022 in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province of China. (Photo by Zhang Yuan/China News Service via Getty Images)

Two couples prepare to pose for their wedding pictures outside the Forbidden City in Beijing on October 31, 2022. (Photo by Wang Zhao/AFP Photo)

Performing arts titled “Solitude of Silences” by Gimhongsok is staged at Art Basel in Hong Kong, China on March 23, 2023. (Photo by Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

A model for the Dieyingchongchong collections by Chinese designer Dong Yaer has final makeup applied backstage during the China Fashion Week in Beijing, Tuesday, March 28, 2023. (Photo by Andy Wong/AP Photo)

A fisherman with a close bond to cormorants uses the flock of birds to catch big fish in Li river in Guilin, China. The aquatic birds can be seen perching on a bamboo raft before swooping into the calm water to grasp hold of prey. (Photo by Julia Wimmerlin/Solnet News & Photo Agency)