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Traditional Asian Dragon Boats Race in Washington

   Jim Stevenson | Washington 17 May 2010

Photo: J. Stevenson, VOA

   Dragon boat race in Washington, DC

   The  ancient  Asian sport of dragon boat racing has become a tradition
   in  Washington, in the past decade. The ninth annual festival was held
   May 15 & 16 on the Potomac River.
   Dragon  heads mounted on the bow led the long, thin and colorful boats
   as  they  sliced  across  the  water  and continued a sport said to be
   2,500-years old.
   The  Dragon  Boat Festival commemorates the life and death of Qu (Chu)
   Yuan  (340  -278 BC), a respected poet and political leader in ancient
   China.   Legend  says  he lost the trust of the king and saw his home
   state  fall into the hands of inept officials, amid a looming invasion
   by  powerful  neighbors.  In despair, Qu drowned himself in the Mi-Lo
   River.
   The  people  paddled frantically in vain to rescue him, and marked the
   event  with annual boat races.  Jacquline Yang is with the DC Chapter
   of  the  Chinese  Women's  League,  which  organizes  the  festival in
   Washington.  "This  is  a traditional Chinese sport.  And dragon boat
   racing  is  one  of  the  fastest  growing  sports in the water in the
   (United)  States.   We  want  to  introduce  this traditional Chinese
   culture into American society," she said.
   During  two  days,  55 teams with 22 crew members a boat rowed against
   each  other over 250 and 500-meter distances.  Bill Ho-Gonzalez tells
   about  his  team  from the Asian Pacific American Bar Association. "We
   get interested members involved to build teamwork, to come out here to
   have  lots  of fun, and also to connect with of course what is a sport
   that is Asian in origin," he said.
   There  are some serious competitors.  But approximately two-thirds of
   the  crews at the DC Dragon Boat Festival are in the "fun" category of
   teams who primarily participate in just one festival a year, including
   Bill  Ho-Gonzalez's  crew.  "A good number of them have never competed
   before.   And,  we have a training session before this festival takes
   place.   There are about three training sessions.  Every team member
   has  done at least two training sessions in preparation for the race,"
   he said.
   Dragon  boat  racing  was not widely introduced to the world until the
   1970's  when  the Hong Kong Tourist Board promoted its culture with an
   international Dragon Boat Festival.
   Now,   more   than  50  million  people  participate  in  dragon  boat
   competitions around the world.

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