Iconic Dragon Boat races are back in full force as thousands of spectators gather
Thousands have gathered to watch the iconic dragon boat races, a highlight of the annual Chinese Dragon Boat festival. The city recorded a total of 16,000 spectators over the past three days.
This year’s race was the first time since the pandemic where the competition opened to regions outside mainland China and Hong Kong.
According to Sports Bureau president Pun Weng Kun, more than 200 teams participated this year, whereas the figures of spectators exceeded the expectations of local authorities.
On the last day of the Macau International Dragon Boat Race, China Nanhai Jiujang was victorious in the Open Category, finishing the race in 1:51.685; while Macao China Selection Team and Thailand National Team finished at 1:52.267 and 1:53.545, winning second and third place, respectively.
In the Women’s Category, China Nanhai Jiujang still topped the race at 2:01.605, followed by Thailand National Team (2:02.587) and Singapore National Team (2:06.891).
The Chief Executive, Ho Iat Seng, attended the eye-dotting ceremony at Nam Van Lake, and then presided over the award presentation.
Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, dragon boat teams range from 8 to 50 people, depending on the size of the boat. A standard boat in Hong Kong typically has a crew of 20 people who race between about 250-500 meters (820-1640 feet).
The Dragon Boat races were back in full force after years of cancellations, postponements and social-distancing restrictions during the pandemic.
The Dragon Boat festival, also known as “Tuen Ng” in Cantonese, is associated with a story of a righteous official in ancient times who drowned himself after falling out of favor with his leader.
According to the lore, villagers rushed out to the river with boats to try and save him, and threw rice dumplings into the water to prevent fish from eating his body and to ward away evil spirits. Thus the tradition of dragon boating and eating rice dumplings, which are called zongzi in Chinese, was born.
The holiday is celebrated in mainland China and regions like Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, as well as in countries like Singapore that have a large Chinese diaspora.
The Dragon Boat race at Hong Kong’s southern fishing port of Aberdeen is famous for having local fishermen join the race with traditional dragon boats they make themselves.
“Wherever there’s fishermen, there’s dragon boats,” said Cheng Man-Tat, a second-generation fisherman from a local fishing family. “There have been dragon boat competitions in every fishing port during the Tuen Ng Festival every year.”
Some 45 teams — made up of fishermen, secondary school students, mixed-gender and all-men and all-women teams — joined 28 races this year at Aberdeen.
Participants compete in either traditional wooden boats or standard glass-fiber dragon boats.
Shelly Chan, a paddler who joined the race for the 10th year, said the hardest part of the races is how tiring it gets. Races often last two to three minutes, but can go to 10 minutes or longer depending on the course.
“You can’t stop, once the competition starts, you will need to keep it going,” she said. “If it’s a long-distance race, it relies on your stamina.”
Races were also held at five other areas across Hong Kong’s shores. MDT/AP
