One of our Chines language school classmates was competing in a dragon boat (龍舟) race at Lotus Pond (蓮池潭). We decided to go out to support him and the rest of our school. Watching the race today got us excited for the Dragon Boat Festival which will take place next May.
Dragon boats are long narrow boats that hold twenty paddlers, one person steering in the back, and one person drumming in the front to keep everyone's rowing in sync.It is believed that the use of dragon boats for racing originated in southern China during the same era of the Greek Olympic games. Originally, dragon boat racing was to celebrate the summer's rice planting and to celebrate the Chinese's dragon water deity. For some more info, check out Wikipedia.
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