Handcrafted dragon boats return home as ancient festival tradition finds new life in China

AN ANCIENT SPORT FINDS NEW AUDIENCES

For millennia, dragon boat racing has been at the heart of the Duanwu Festival, China's first traditional celebration to be inscribed on UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. It is this iconic boat racing that has made the festival widely known around the world as the Dragon Boat Festival.

Closely associated with Qu Yuan, a patriotic poet who lived more than 2,000 years ago, the tradition has long served as a cultural symbol that connects generations. Nowadays, dragon boat racing is finding audiences far beyond its traditional base.

This year, in Guangdong province alone, more than 500 dragon boat competitions involving nearly 100,000 participants were scheduled during the three-day festival break.

In East China's Jiangxi province, teams from around the world gathered for the Nanchang International Dragon Boat Race. Among them was Andreas Willms from Germany, who has competed in the event three times.

"Everyone on a dragon boat has to pull their oars in perfect unison," said Willms, a manager at a German-funded company in Shanghai. "This sport relies entirely on teamwork. We compete not just for ourselves, but for the whole team."

Dragon boat racing has been practiced in Germany for nearly four decades, increasingly serving as a cultural bridge between Chinese traditions and international enthusiasts.

Back in Zigui, local teams raced in handcrafted wooden boats while students from 12 Chinese universities competed about 30 kilometers downstream on the Yangtze River using fiberglass vessels.

For Zhang Pushao, a student from Northwest China's Shaanxi province, the experience carried a deeper meaning.

"We don't have rivers this large in my hometown," he said. "But once I sat in the boat, I felt a connection with Qu Yuan. It's as if a culture from thousands of years ago came rushing toward me."