Dragon Boat Racing: A Chinese Traditional Turned International

by Wong Lee

	I n rhythmic synchronization, all twenty of us paddled. To win, we had to be one both in mind and motion. We had practiced the paddling technique until perfection. However, it was the our synchronized execution following the beat of the drum which guaranteed our victory. No, this is not crew; this is dragon boat racing, the major event of the Dragon Boat Festival. T he festival commemorates the attempt to rescue the patriotic poet Chu Yuan, who drowned on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month in 277 B.C. Chu Yuan was loved by his people, but was disliked by the emperor for advocating reforms. He was banished from the courts and wandered the countryside writing poetry about his concerns for his country and his people, until he was drowned in Mi Lo River. L egends says that the people raced out to the river to save him. Unable to save him, they threw bamboo stuffed with cooked rice into the water so that the fish would eat the rice rather than the body of their hero. This episode evolved into the practice of eating tzungtzu or rice dumplings filled with different meats, nuts, and vegetables wrapped in bamboo leaves and held together by twine on this day each year. B eyond eating tzungtzu, the other major activity during the Dragon Boat Festival is Dragon Boat racing. Although Dragon Boat racing started thousands of years ago in China, it is now an international event. Races are held throughout the year in every continent from Asia to North America, Australia, Europe and Africa. Recently, the American Championship Race was held in Flushing Meadow Corona Park in Queens.

	T his is the sixth year of the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival held in Flushing. There were teams from all over the country from places like Massachusetts, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Virginia. There were also many New York Area corporate, community and self-sponsored teams. The corporate teams represented companies such as AT&T, Coopers & Lybrand, Deloitte & Touche, Citibank, American Express, and Singapore Airlines. It was wonderful to witness so many New York based businesses participate in this community event. There were teams sponsored by community organizations such as the Wall Street Lions, the Queens Library Foundation, and the New York Downtown Hospital and Team YMCA. These community based teams exemplified the spirit of the Dragon Boat Festival. A member of these teams stated, "We do not want to outdo others but we want only to outdo ourselves." The self sponsored teams such as the Big Apples, the Sea Dogs, the Metro Asians and the New York Titans, demonstrate the determination and hard work required to achieve success in this sport. Many of these paddlers run and lift weights throughout the year to maintain a high level of physical fitness. Months before the competition, team members spend hours in the water recreating every detail of the race and trying out every new and classical Dragon Boat racing theory. Eventually, a winning strategy is derived and practiced over and over again until the race date. One teams prevails to represent America in the international races in Hong Kong.
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