- Title: Athletes compete in yearly dragon boat races in Taipei
- Date: 30th May 2017
- Summary: TAIPEI, TAIWAN (MAY 30, 2017) (REUTERS) DRAGON BOAT ATHLETES PREPARING FOR START AND TAKING OFF TEAMS ROWING BOATS LEAVING STARTING POINT VARIOUS OF BOATS ON THE RIVER DRAGON BOATS RACING HEAD TO HEAD GRAND HOTEL BUILDING VARIOUS OF SPECTATORS WATCHING RACES SPECTATOR CHEERING (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 32-YEAR-OLD SPECTATOR, HSIAO HUI-WEN, SAYING: "Each time I come to this place, the atmosphere at the dragon boat festival is especially vibrant. We can cheer on (the teams) together and enjoy the dragon boat tradition and everyone's team spirit." SPECTATORS WATCHING RACE ATHLETES ROWING VARIOUS OF BOATS ON RIVER COMPETITOR GRABBING AND THROWING UP FINISH LINE FLAG BOAT REACHING FINISH LINE SCOREBOARD SHOWING RESULTS SPECTATOR CLAPPING (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 23-YEAR-OLD ATHLETE, HSU TZU-HAN, SAYING: "Our practice is mostly a team joint effort, even more so than basketball. In this sport, we need ten people to do the exact same movement, this is what we call coordinated strength, in short. So, to achieve coordinated strength, every person has to concentrate on every paddle stroke every day, this is the biggest challenge that we faced (during practice). But luckily we were able to carefully execute each paddle stroke to perfection during the races, each time moving on to the next round by reaching first place." VARIOUS OF BOATS ROWING ON RIVER
- Embargoed: 13th June 2017 11:42
- Keywords: racing festival Taipei Taiwan Dragon boat race
- Location: TAIPEI, TAIWAN
- City: TAIPEI, TAIWAN
- Country: Taiwan
- Topics: Human Interest / Brights / Odd News,Society/Social Issues,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA0016J15IZD
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: There was cheering, drumming and a great display of coordinated strength at the annual traditional dragon boat races on Tuesday (May 30) in Taipei, Taiwan.
Upon the starting signal, athletes paddled vigorously in unison to the beat of a drum through the water, covering a distance of 500 metres (1,640 ft) on the Keelung River in Taipei City before reaching the finish line.
Spectators cheered on the racers, who later spoke of the great team effort it took to win the race.
Dragon boat racing is now a sport, but the festival has its roots in Chinese folklore, and is held annually on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar to commemorate the death of legendary hero Qu Yuan, who drowned in the Mi Lo River over 2000 years ago while protesting against corrupt rulers in China.
The story goes that people attempted to rescue Qu Yuan by beating drums to scare fish away and by throwing dumplings into the water to prevent the fish from eating his body.
Apart from the dragon boat races, people also make rice dumplings and wear scented sachets to ward off bad luck to mark this day. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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