Who can resist the idea of riding a dragon?The dragonboat race makes waves in the world!
Speed!Strength!Teamwork!These are the keywords of the dragonboat race!Today, with the powerful beat of the boat drums, ten thousand dragonboats make waves around the world!
As the signature sport of China, the dragonboat race is to celebrate the duan wu(端午）festival, aka the dragonboat festival. Originally, it was a festival to celebrate the arrival of summer and pray for good health. However, it is also deeply linked to the story of Qu Yuan(屈原）, the literati who many viewed as the founding member of the ancient Chinese romanticism literature.
Every dragon boat race started with the ceremony of"awakening the dragon". It traditionally involves a Taoist priest dotting the protruding eyes of the dragon head carved on the boats, thus ending its slumber. Then the team will participate in an intense race in the local river. Due to the length of the dragon boat, it requires great teamwork to make the boat change direction in the rivers. This makes capsizing very common during the dragon boat race, adding risk but also excitement to the race.
After the end of the race, the racers will sink the boat underwater by loading the boat with stones, sending the dragons back to their home. As the dragon boats were made of teak and would often warp and crack with the change in temperature and humidity, so once the head and tail were removed the boats sat underwater until raised and painted with a protective varnish, just before the next Dragon Boat Festival.
