Dragon boat racing heats up in Tongren, China

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[00:00:37]Hello everyone. This is USU with the Shinua News Agency coming to you from Kong, Southwest China Province. Behind me, teams are preparing for one of China's largest traditional dragon boat tournaments. Dragon boat racing has been practiced here for hundreds of years.

[00:00:56]And this week, thousands of local residents are joining in part of the this competition. Let's first take a look in the scene.

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[00:04:15]Now, if you are just joining us, we are in Torren, a city where dragon boat racing has been practiced for hundreds of years. What we are witnessing here is not just a sporting event but a living cultural tradition that continues to shape local identity and a drive tourism and economia growth. What you are seeing now are local community teams practicing the competition on the Jing Jang River and most participants are not professional athletes. They are farmers, shop owners, factory workers and students.

[00:04:54]Many have returned home specifically for the festival.

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[00:07:58]And beside me is a Pakistani student um who comes here to watch the dragon boat races. So please first make a brief self introduction.

[00:08:09]Uh I am from Pakistan. My name is Ikashad and I study in Tongranu.

[00:08:16]And so is it's your first time to watch the dragon boat races here. And what impressed you most?

[00:08:23]>> Yes, it's my very first time to see the dragon boat race here. And what impressed me the most was their passion that how people are passionate about their culture and how they love their culture and they have come from so far to participate in this board race.

[00:08:36]really amazed me and although maybe in Pakistan we don't have similar events but um what can you feel here um as the same in your mother country? It's the same that the way Chinese love their culture it's like Pakistanis they also love their culture.

[00:08:56]I see so many Chinese they were so much happy and they were so much excited to watch this festival to watch this race.

[00:09:02]So it's same for us even we start preparing for our festivals from so long before and it's the same that the same happiness we share for these cultures and for these festivals.

[00:09:13]>> Thank you.

[00:09:15]Now let's move on board. These images were captured by a wearable camera on one of the dragon boats.

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[00:14:45]Every stroke has to be synchronized. The timing is everything. If you are just joining us, we are in Tan where Dragon Belt Racing is recognized as part of China's National Intangible Cultural Heritage. And this year's tournament has attracted 55 teams and more than 3,000 participants. But perhaps the most remarkable thing is that the tradition remains deeply rooted in everyday community life.

[00:15:18]Uh when did you start to train for this tournament?

[00:15:27]The team prepared for the tournament about half a month ago.

[00:15:35]And how long were we training each day?

[00:15:45]Uh and the training started from uh about 12:00 to um 5:00 in the afternoon.

[00:16:01]And what do we do?

[00:16:14]And all of the team members are like some are farmers, some are migrant workers and some just started their businesses at home.

[00:16:27]How do we reunite all the villages here to join in the tournament?

[00:16:40]and they just reunite together because of the dragon boat festival. and they just organize a team um by one of the villages >> and they just take this kind of tournament as part of their passion and they don't care about whether they will win or not get a good grade. They just want to take part in this kind of festival. Okay. Thank you.

[00:17:17]>> Among the local traditions is something called a nolong or twisting dragon. It's a unique form of competition found in this region. Let's take a look.

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[00:18:47]The Dragon Boat Festival is also becoming an important tourism event.

[00:18:52]Last year, hundreds of thousands of visitors came to watch the races, mainly stayed in local villages and home stays.

[00:19:00]And this year bookings are already close to capacity. Visitors are not only coming for the races, mainly also explore the ancient town nearby.

[00:19:13]Here in Toronto racing is far more than the sporting event. It's a tradition that continues to bring communities together while creating new opportunities for local development. And I'm with the Inu Province. Thanks for watching and see you next time.

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