Dragon Boat Racing in Hangzhou


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Asia » China » Hangzhou
July 6th 2009
Published: July 6th 2009
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This past weekend we were invited to participate in an international dragon boat racing competition. To promote tourism in Hangzhou, the local government paid for our whole weekend: our transportation to and from Hangzhou, a night in a luxury hotel and banquets for all of our meals. We left Shanghai early Saturday morning and arrived in Hangzhou around 11:30 am. After an amazing lunch we headed over to the XiXi Wetlands where the race was to be held. There we met our teams and got our uniforms. Each team was composed of both Chinese and foreigners. My team had 5 CET students including myself and 5 Chinese people from Nanjing. The other guys on our team all worked together and were hilarious. They were very serious about dragon boat racing and were very happy to share the sport with us. They were about 40 or 50 years old, there was also a woman on our team who was in her 20's. We spent about an hour and a half practicing and preparing for the race. Dragon boats are long, thin canoe-like boats with two people sitting side by side in each row. There is a dragon head at the front of
Comped Hotel RoomComped Hotel RoomComped Hotel Room

Normal cost: 600 Yuan For Int'l Dragon Boat Racers: Free
the boat where our coach sat with a large drum. There was also an oarman at the back of the boat who steered. Every time our coach hit the drum, we rowed and yelled "jiaho!" After our crash course in dragon boat racing we were ready for the competition. The race was a one kilometer sprint that winded through the wetlands. Each boat left 30 seconds apart from one another and the boat with the fastest time wins. The other boat with CET students was stacked with really big Chinese guys, one was 6'11", we called him Yao Ming. They set off first, my boat was second. We started off strong, especially given the added task of keeping pace with the boat in front of us and attempting to overtake them. As we approached the finish line, a few hundred people were there cheering the boats on and taking pictures. We finished in 6:34 which was good enough for 3rd place but only two seconds behind the second place team. The other boat with CET students finished 1st with a time of 6:23! The race was really tiring, my shoulders, back and butt are still sore, I am either getting a massage tonight or tomorrow. After the race we headed back to the hotel for a banquet dinner and ceremony. Each team had their own table and after a few speeches by the mayor of Hangzhou and some of the top Communist Party officials for the region the eating and drinking commenced. Every few minutes plates of food were brought out to every table, and there was pretty ridiculous amounts of alcohol going around. The Chinese were all getting quite drunk, they would go around to the other tables and toast everyone by saying "ganbei" (dry cup!) which was followed by rattling glasses on the table, and then finishing the drink. Halfway through dinner many of our Chinese counterparts were quite red-faced, but it was a very fun and electric environment. Then the performances began, Karaoke, a two-person band, and a Chinese clown, which was one of the most ridiculous and disturbing things II have ever witnessed. We were also awarded our team trophy which was a wooden dragon boat. After the banquet calmed down we headed to a club for the rest of the night which was a lot of fun. The next morning we woke up and headed
I see youI see youI see you

winning 3rd place
back to Shanghai after lunch. Definitely one of my favorite experiences in China so far and I was very proud to spend my 4th of July winning 3rd place in an international dragon boat race!


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Chinese ClownChinese Clown
Chinese Clown

This guy was nuts, he was in drag and running around putting saran wrap around dudes and kissing them, I missed out on it by standing in the corner taking pictures, the Chinese loved it
From my hotel roomFrom my hotel room
From my hotel room

Long-exposure


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