Dragon Boat Race, a sport that is more than 2000 years old | My Singapore Travel

Dragon Boat Race, a sport that is more than 2000 years old

Dragon Boat Racing is a popular boating sport found in the Chinese communities around the world. The dragon boat is a narrow, long boat, much like a canoe and has no engine or mechanical propulsion system, the dragon boat is simply powered by human rowing. The sport can trace its origins back to 2000 years ago in ancient China and is considered to be a team paddling sporting event. The dragon boating sport has come to be considered an international sport in Hong Kong in the year 1976. For over twenty centuries the sport of dragon boat racing had been a part of folk rituals in the Chinese communities.

During the completion the boats are fitted and decorated with the heads of Chinese dragons and the rowers or paddlers paddle the boat to rhythmic beat of a drum. The drummer sits on the boat and plays the drum in a pattern of rhythmic beats. At certain competitions the decorations are done away with yet the integral drummer and drum of the dragon boat remains. The dragon boat races can usually be seen as part of the Duanwu Festival, and is known to the westerners as the dragon boat festival. The Duanwu Festival and dragon boating can be observed in countries which have a significant Chinese population, such as in Greater China, Singapore and Malaysia. The festival is held annually.

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