Abode of dragon boats
Distinctive sport back in Wenzhou, its spiritual home, where the venue highlights city’s innovative spirit
With four distinct seasons and abundant rainfall, Wenzhou, which sits in the south of Zhejiang province, enjoys a pleasant climate, making it an ideal location for dragon boat racing during the Asian Games.
Despite being only recently completed, Wenzhou Dragon Boat Sports Centre, where six gold medals will be up for grabs, is already widely regarded as the most professional venue of its kind in China, if not all of Asia, and has already become something of a tourist attraction.
The overall design of the center features boat and sports-related elements. Viewed from above, the center looks like a dragon resting on a river bank.
The races for the Asian Games will be held on professional courses rather than natural waterways, and the Wenzhou Dragon Boat Sports Centre features a new course that is 1,200 meters in length, 130 meters in breadth, and 3.5 meters deep, with six main tracks, one secondary track, and a buffer zone.
Dragon boat racing became an official event of the Asian Games for the first time at the 2010 edition in Guangzhou.
This time around, there are six events including men’s and women’s 200m, 500m, and 1,000m races for 12-person dragon boats.
Ouhai district, where the center is located, is dubbed the “Home of China’s Dragon Boat Culture”. The tradition of dragon boat racing has been passed down in the area for over 2,000 years.
The Wenruitang River, the mother river of the city, originates in Ouhai. According to historical records, every year around the Dragon Boat Festival, a traditional Chinese holiday that falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, dragon boat races are held on the river. The activity was prevalent throughout the Tang and Song dynasties (618-1279) and reached its peak during the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911).
Unlike the standard crew of 12 in the Asian Games events, traditional dragon boat races feature larger boats and more participants. Each crew usually consists of between 20 and 40 people.
Over the past two millennia, residents of Wenzhou have also explored more ways to develop dragon boat culture.
During the Qing Dynasty, they transformed racing dragon boats into ornamental ones. Much larger in size, they were called “Water Pavilions”. People used to enjoy performances and host ceremonies of worship on the boats, which would move slowly down the river during the Dragon Boat Festival.
In recent years, Wenzhou has continued to promote dragon boat culture. In addition to annual dragon boat races held across the city, it has built a dragon boat park featuring themed sculptures, terraces, and other structures. Since 2018, it has also established dragon boat bases in
Barcelona, Rome, Paris, and Copenhagen.
The competitive spirit has inspired locals to make their way in the world.
Wenzhou people are known for their innovation and business acumen.
During the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), Zhou Zhu, a merchant from Wenzhou, traveled to Goryeo (a kingdom on the Korean Peninsula) on a trade ship and settled down there, eventually ending up working as a government official. He is historically considered to be the first overseas Chinese from Wenzhou.
In 1876, Wenzhou was opened as one of China’s treaty ports. Since then, residents have made a living doing business in foreign markets, and many later emigrated.
In 1984, Wenzhou was listed among the 14 coastal cities that would play a vital role in China’s reform and opening-up, which created more opportunities for locals to tap overseas markets.
Nearly 700,000 overseas Chinese are from Wenzhou or are the descendants of Wenzhou people. These days, they are living in more than 130 countries and regions around the world, including Italy, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Austria, and Belgium.
Their hard work, innovation, and pioneering spirit have also been passed on to the new generation of Wenzhou immigrants, who keep striving and shining in different fields, such as technology, law, and politics.
Despite living far away, generations of overseas Wenzhou natives have always remained connected to the motherland.
In 1923, they established the Wenzhou Clan Association of Singapore. Over the last century, over 300 associations of overseas Chinese from Wenzhou have been founded around the world.
They also continue to promote Chinese culture and language to the world by building Chinese schools, launching newspapers, magazines, and radio programs, and founding Chinese language websites.