Suzhou, Guojiaba teams win dragon boat races
2024-06-10 19:06:30
By Chen Si, Yichang International Communication Studio
Photo by Zheng Jiayu, Fu Beibei and Wu Yanling
The team from Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province and the team from Guojiaba Town, Zigui County, have emerged as the final winners of the 2024 Traditional Dragon Boat Race held in Yichang.
The race was held at the National Dragon Boat Training and Competition Base in front of the Three Gorges Dam in Zigui County.
Photo by Zheng Jiayu, Fu Beibei and Wu Yanling
The team from Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province and the team from Guojiaba Town, Zigui County, have emerged as the final winners of the 2024 Traditional Dragon Boat Race held in Yichang.
The race was held at the National Dragon Boat Training and Competition Base in front of the Three Gorges Dam in Zigui County.
Out of the 16 teams participating in the race, four are city-level teams which formed the “three province, four city” group; Miluo of Hunan, Suzhou of Jiangsu and Yichang and Huangshi of Hubei. In 2008, they jointly applied to UNESCO to include China’s Dragon Boat Festival in its Intangible Cultural Heritage List, which was approved in 2009.
Teams in this group competed in only one event: 500-meter straight race for 12-person dragon boats.
The remaining 12 teams were formed by Zigui locals and grouped into the Zigui local group. In addition to the 500-meter straight race, they also had a “red cloth grabbing” race as part of the traditional event of the festival.
After a day of fierce competition, the Suzhou team won in its group, while the team from Guojiaba Town won both events of the Zigui local group.
Today’s race was held following the traditional rituals of Zigui, which is Qu Yuan's hometown, such as “eye-dotting” (of the Dragon Boats), launching of the boats, boat patrolling, racing, and grabbing the red cloth.
During the upcoming Olympic Games Paris 2024, dragon boat racing will become an exhibition sport, said Thomas Konietzko, president of the International Canoe Federation, in an interview with China’s Central TV Station.
He also said that the Dragon Boat World Cup will be held in Zigui in October of this year.
Teams in this group competed in only one event: 500-meter straight race for 12-person dragon boats.
The remaining 12 teams were formed by Zigui locals and grouped into the Zigui local group. In addition to the 500-meter straight race, they also had a “red cloth grabbing” race as part of the traditional event of the festival.
After a day of fierce competition, the Suzhou team won in its group, while the team from Guojiaba Town won both events of the Zigui local group.
Today’s race was held following the traditional rituals of Zigui, which is Qu Yuan's hometown, such as “eye-dotting” (of the Dragon Boats), launching of the boats, boat patrolling, racing, and grabbing the red cloth.
During the upcoming Olympic Games Paris 2024, dragon boat racing will become an exhibition sport, said Thomas Konietzko, president of the International Canoe Federation, in an interview with China’s Central TV Station.
He also said that the Dragon Boat World Cup will be held in Zigui in October of this year.
The race was held at the National Dragon Boat Training and Competition Base in front of the Three Gorges Dam in Zigui County.
