On June 23, the first dragon boat race on Longxi River in Gao'an Town, Dianjiang County, Chongqing, was launched.

The race consisted of the preliminary, quarter-final, semi-final, and final. At each competition, teams had to cover 200-meter race distance in their respective tracks.

dragon boat race, pic by Visual Chongqing

At 9.40 a.m., as the host announced the start of the competition, the teams sprinted furiously to the finish line as the referee called the shots. During the competition, the dragon boats made waves on the Longxi River as the participating teams were paddling, accompanied by the roll of drums from the boats. Spectators on the river banks kept cheering for the teams. After more than two hours of struggle, among the 21 participating teams, one team won first prize, two-second prize, and three third prize in the end.

dragon boat race on Longxi River

According to a local official, there are many rivers and lakes in Dianjiang, providing excellent conditions for the dragon boat race. The race not only fully demonstrated local conditions and customs, beautiful mountains, and rivers but also met the growing spiritual and cultural needs of the people.

In recent years, relying on the unique ecological resources of Longxi River and Mingyue Mountain, Dianjiang County has intensified efforts to develop cultural tourism and sports and successfully held several cultural and sports events such as the Peony Cultural Tourism Festival, the first "Mountain City Watch" Half Marathon in Dianjiang, and Longxi River Fishing Festival. Next, the county will promote the protection and sustainable development of water resources in the Longxi River basin through the dragon boat race, support the construction of the green development demonstration belt in Mingyue Mountain, and try its best to build Dianjiang into a national health and cultural tourism area integrating agriculture, culture, and tourism.