- Title: HONG KONG: ANNUAL DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL
- Date: 20th June 1996
- Summary: ABERDEEN, HONG KONG (JUNE 20, 1996) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. LV/SV: DRAGONBOATS RACING/ BOATS APPROACHING GOAL (2 SHOTS) 0.15 2. GV: HONG KONG CHIEF EXECUTIVE, ANSON CHAN, WATCHING RACE 0.19 3. GV: MORE RACING 0.26 4. GV: PARTICIPANTS SPLASHING WATER (2 SHOTS) 0.38 5. GV: VIEW OF SCENE/ DRAGON HEADS ON BOATS (2 SHOTS) 0.48 6. GV: GENERAL SCENES WITH FLAGS FLYING 0.52 7. GV/SV: PEOPLE ROWING DRAGON BOATS/ SPECTATORS/ DRUMMER ON BOAT/ BOATS RACING (4 SHOTS) 1.23 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
- Embargoed: 5th July 1996 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: HONG KONG
- City:
- Country: Hong Kong
- Reuters ID: LVAABSWO8EPKHDB0YBCQT7TO6XXN
- Story Text: INTRO: Drums pounded over the waters around Hong Kong on Thursday as hundreds of dragon boats vied for honours in the annual dragon boat festival.
-------------------------------------------------------------------- Crowds of spectators turned out to watch Hong Kong's annual dragon boat festival on Thursday (June 20).
One of the largest turn-outs was at the fishing community of Aberdeen where Hong Kong's Chief Secretary Anson Chan watched the experienced, and less experienced, fishermen and restaurant staff race against each other.
Dragon boat crews often train for months before the big event.
On race day, however, the competition is as much one of presentation as speed. The gaudily painted boats evoke images of China's warrior traditions as they surge through the water driven on the drumbeat and toil of their crews.
The festival dates back more than a thousand years when a patriotic poet dived into a river in despair over the rule of a Chinese emperor he considered an idiot. All the local people boarded their fishing boats in a bid to rescue to poet, beating on their drums to stop the fish from eating him.
The poet was never seen again, but his memory lives on in Chinese communities throughout the world.
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