June 8, 2024
Men on the Dragon
It was nearly 15:00 hrs when I arrived at the venue for the dragon boat drifting competition in Nanhai of Foshan China - Kong Dazong Ancestral Waterway in Shengtang Village, Dienan Community, Guicheng.
Millions of tourists from other urban areas in Foshan also came to Diejiao to watch the unique dragon boat drafting competitions. I was honored to be a witness in Diejiao this year for the special and exciting dragon boat competitions.
The highlight of the competition in this village is the L-shaped bend, the trained paddlers have to control the dragon boat to enter the 90-degree bend twice throughout the entire track. To be honest, it is not easy for the paddlers to drive a 25-meter-long dragon boat into the right-angle bend at a fast speed. You may probably see or play the car drifting exercises, but do you know about the dragon boat drifting race here? The answer lies in Diejiao Foshan!
This is a heart-pounding "fast and furious" boat race in Foshan's Diejiao. More than 40 paddlers on a dragon who are well-trained with amazing boat drifting skills. By the way, on the side of the dragon's head, three paddlers take the lead in turning the dragon's head before the bend, and the other three sit on the dragon's tail to drift the tail's portion of the boat toward the bend safely. These six paddlers are experienced and key to shifting the boat's tail sideward and avoiding hitting the wall around turns.
The dragon boat drifting race has a history of over 500 years in Diejiao Foshan (佛山疊滘) and is held every year around the Dragon Boat Festival. There are several types of racing tracks, including L-shaped (held on 8 Jun), C-shaped (on 9 Jun), S-shaped (10 Jun this year), and straight ones (11 Jun) with narrow turns and waterways, and during the race in which the boat’s paddlers need to make sudden turns based on the track's condition. Actually, the drifting dragon boat has been a scenic spot in Diejiao by the effect of TikTok's heat wave, the event is attractive and definitely exciting you would feel so long as you have ever seen it.
L-shaped Track
Due to the large number of tourists, many entrances to the village had been temporarily blocked with water-filled barriers started at 13:00hrs. It was for the sake of all the tourists' safety considered by the organiser of the event so that nobody could get in after 13:00hrs except the paddlers and authorised staff of the event.
I got the spot at 15:00hrs which seemed too late, and I had really no way to get in as the fences were formed since 13:00hrs (it was the start time of the event); however, there were also places worth visiting near the event place. Undoubtedly, number of the tourists (including foreigners) visiting these villages has greatly increased because of the annual dragon boat drifting race. Tourists and native residents stand on both sides along the waterways to cheer for the dragon boat teams, and the warm and lively atmosphere must be. If you don’t experience it personally, you can’t describe it in words.
There were also competitions in the other two villages respectively on June 9 and 10, 2024 at Tantou Village (潭頭村) see C track and Dongsheng Village (東勝村) see S track, so June 8’s sad experience was an excuse to comfort me and to look forward to the June 9’s competition!
KEN NGAN
8/6/2024 (Saturday)
Location: Shengtang Village, Diejiaonan Nanhai (L-shaped track)
June 9, 2024 (Sunday)
Early Bird catches the Worm
I realized the principle of "the early bird catches the worm". We set out at 11:30hrs in the morning and arrived at Diebei’s Tantou Village (疊滘潭頭村) at noon at which the early birds had already the vantage point there.
Then at 13:00hrs, the urban management of Tantou Village began to block the entrances. The purpose they did was to ensure the visitors' safety and avoid accidents caused by large crowds on the riverside. I saw the people who couldn’t get in just standing outside the fences, just like I was outside there yesterday.
The race point in Tantou Village (潭頭村) was more lively than June 8's race. In Hong Kong, dragon boat racing involves multiple teams racing together, the winner is the one who reaches the finish line fastest. But in Tantou, the river here is narrow, and the 25-meter-long dragon boat cannot sail into the bend unless it is with a team of skilled paddlers on. Therefore, Diejiao’s dragon boat race is a single-dragon battle with speed (racing against time….), and there are other exciting points involved in each race. Both sides of the river were crowded with tourists and photographers who enjoyed the exciting dragon boat races these days.
At the competition site, there were occasional sounds of firecrackers, billboards of major brands such as BYD cars, children riding on their father's shoulders and croaking, mothers fanning to create wind for their sons, and the native hawkers who were selling iced oolong and black tea (three bottles for 10RMB), an uncle from Hong Kong (say me) quickly lifted his mobile phone to shoot videos while hearing the coming sound of drums, village management staff persuaded tourists to give way to the persons in need, and...a lot of, good things happened at which I was seeing and feeling.
I had heard about this lively dragon boat racing event last year, and I only thought a good memory would be kept then if I could experience it in person and in place. The gold rule in human life from which you may know, there are some things in the world that money cannot buy, such as health and physical strength, but you can achieve the life goals you set previously by implementing both a healthy body and a good psychological mindset. On June 9, 2024 (it was the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival 2024), I have fulfilled the wish I made last year. As for this year, I really stood at the scene with tourists, paddlers, and hawkers to watch a wonderful dragon boat drifting.
KEN NGAN
09/06/2024 (Sunday)
Location: Tantou Village, Diejiaobei Nanhai (C-shaped track)
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June 11, 2024 (Monday)
Enjoy the TV Show
Nothing better and more comfortable than watching the dragon boat competition in front of the television in home. On the first day of the event, I experienced being late and not being allowed to enter, and on the second day I was able to watch the live race at the spot, and the three day on which I could watch the dragon boat battle from the TV programme.
KEN NGAN
11/06/2024 (Monday- Dragon Boat Festival)
Location: Ken’s Home (for watching Dongsheng Village, Diejiaobei Nanhai, S-shaped track)
