CHENGDU - The five-day Equestrian Art Exhibition of the 2011 China Equestrian Festival opened in the Wenjiang district of Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, on Thursday.

As one important part of the equestrian festival, the free exhibition featuring the time-honored Chinese horse culture consists of some 170 picutures and 120 traditional Chinese paintings and works of calligraphy.

Terracotta carriages and horses from the mausoleum of China's first emperor Qin Shihuang (259－210BC), elegant tri-colored glazed pottery horses from the Tang Dynasty (618-907AD), and unconstrained yet mighty stone sculpture of the horse on the tomb monument honoring Huo Qubing, a leading general of the Western Han Dynasty (202BC-8AD), can be found in the pictures.

"We should care not only about equestrian competitions but also the culture," said Long Zhimin, secretary general of the Chengdu Equestrian Federation.