Hong Kong Culture: Dragon Boat Races
Dragon Boat Hong Kong - Hong Kong's Big Splash
Christopher KL Lau
Photos: Chris Lau, Frank Tsang, V.Pang, May Wong
One of Hong Kong's largest sporting events is the annual Dragon Boat festival. Every year tens of thousands of people flood the beaches of Hong Kong to either compete as paddlers or to watch the action unfold.
The weather in June is amongst the most searing with temperatures hitting the mid-thirties and the humidity almost always 100 percent yet this does not prevent the masses from enjoying several great days out this month.
Stanley Beach
Stanley Beach is the location for the most popular race. Over 20,000 spectators cheer on 5,000 competitors throughout the course of the day. Given that Stanley is a not the largest of beaches, these figures reflect how ingrained dragon boating is in Hong Kong's burgeoning and slowly developing sporting culture and mentality.
Dragon Boat Carnival
Aside from the whole host of races on June 12th, Hong Kong also hosts a Dragon Boat Carnival from June 21st to 23rd along the Victoria Harbour Waterfront and the Tsim Sha Tsui Waterfront.
This is more international in the sense that teams from all around the world will participate. The first organized Dragon boat race was in 1976 with a handful of teams including fishermen from HK and a team from Japan. Highlights include a celebrity bath tub race and races with people dressed up in fancy costume.
Now, this weekend of races has been given an official seal of approval, the HK government has given it the "M" mark and status. The "M" mark is given to an event which adds to HK's status as a world city, brings together the community and drives tourism. Dragon Boating has come a long way since its inception.
Dragon Boat Roots
Dragon Boating roots came from auspicious and borderline tragic beginnings. Dating back 2000 years, the legend is of the poet Qu Yuan who committed suicide and flung himself into a river to drown himself.
Qu Yuan was accused of treason and protested his innocence to no avail thus he committed suicide in a river on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. The races derived from the legend that supporters and local villages quickly took to their boats to retrieve his body before it was consumed by the fish. The frantic paddling and banging of the drums were to ward off the predatory fish.
Thus dragon boating was born and is now one of the fastest growing sports in the world. Dragon boating is definitely one of the most popular participation sports in Hong Kong due to its relative simplicity but it is more complex than simply pounding the water! There are tactics, rhythms and techniques to follow; teams have to work for hours to make sure that each paddle hits the water in synch in order to gain a competitive edge.
The Technique and Skills
Seemingly simplistic in nature, dragon boat racing has many techniques and skills which take along time to master and develop. The basic knowledge is that the nuances of technique should be learnt before timing as it is crucial that everyone is in sync with each other in order to achieve the greatest results. Furthermore, power should be developed slowly and this goes hand in hand with the timing.
The most important part of dragon boating is the stroke. Correct stroke methodology can make the difference between victory and defeat. There are three simple terms for the overall component of the stroke. The first is known as the catch; this is the first movement where the front of the blade is thrust forwards into the water at to propel the boat along. Next is the drive where the blade is pulled through the water as rapidly as possible at a forward angle. Lastly is the return where the paddle blade is thrust out of the water and the cycle begins again. This occurs in rapid succession and requires all members to be coordinated for best results.
The positions on the boat are also important for speed, the front paddlers are known as the strokes and they will set the pace of the race; everyone will follow their lead while the middle of the boat are known as the engine and these are normally the strongest members whose momentum everyone else feeds off. The drummer at the front helps the pace while the sweep at the back will steer and shout commands. The pace in a race will vary but all team begin with a quick burst of strokes and speed to get away from their competitors till a more steady pace comes into play to conserve energy.
A Sense of Community
Almost all major companies, universities and residential districts have a team and a majority of people either join for the fun or the sense of community. The more serious teams have a rigorous training schedule which stretches from mid week to the weekends.
Friends, families and colleagues almost always end up going head to head with each other as the hundreds of different teams take to the water. Over the course of a mid June to the end of June, scores are settled and family / company bragging rights are fulfilled.
The HK dragon boat festival is truly a great day out in HK and open to all to partake and watch. If you have never dragon boated then give it a try! There are literally hundreds of teams looking for new paddlers.
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