A 16-year-old Uygur tightrope walker is to attempt five world wire-walking records during the National Day holidays, balancing above the heads of lions and tigers at the Beijing Wildlife Park.

Shate'er, a disciple of the legendary Uygur tightrope artist Adili, will walk, run and dance along a 200-metre-long steel cable suspended 25 metres above the animals.

The five records Shate'er hopes to establish on the cable are: a 100-metre dash, walking backwards with eyes blindfolded, non-stop walking for 2,000 metres, and a 200-metre walk without a balancing stick.

Liu Xinchen, the wildlife park's vice-general manager, said no additional fee would be charged for people to watch the performance in the park, located in Daxing District near Beijing.

Liu said the park has taken precautions to protect Shate'er from the big cats in case the worst happens, including rifles that shoot anaesthetic darts, water cannons, and two distractions fireworks and food.

Shate'er, however, says he is completely confident he will succeed and is not worried about falling.

On Saturday, the National Day, Adili and Shate'er will perform Dawazi ("wire walking" in Uygur), a 2,500-year-old form of Uygur acrobatics in which various stunts are performed while walking along a rope fastened to the ground at one end and to a tall pole at the other.

Shate'er will try to set the records in the following five days, with his mentor, audiences and the animals watching.

Each day will feature performances at 10 AM and 2 PM.

According to Liu, the Chinese organization responsible for recording official Guinness World Records, the Shenyang-based Liaoning Educational Press, has entrusted the Beijing Notary Office to certify any records Shate'er sets.

The young performers mentor, Adili, a deputy to the National People's Congress, said he is now planning to establish a Dawazi school in his hometown, in Yingjisha County in Kashgar in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

"The Dawazi art belongs not only to the Chinese people, but also to people all over the world," Adili said.

Adili said he welcomes all students, whatever their ethnic group or nationality, to attend his school. He said his family is the only one that carries on the art.

(China Daily September 30, 2005)