Dragon boat race to kick off in Xiamen

As the Dragon Boat Festival approaches, the 2022 Cross-Straits Dragon Boat Race will be held on June 2 and 3 in Xiamen, East China's Fujian province.

As a traditional Chinese folklore activity with a long history, dragon boat race is extremely popular among people across the Straits.

The race will kick off on June 2 at Dragon Boat Pond, Jimei district, Xiamen, with 24 dragon boat teams from Chinese mainland and 17 from Taiwan competing for the 300-meter race and dragon boat tug-of-war.

The opening ceremony and the traditional ritual of "eye-dotting" will be held on the morning of June 3 — this year's Dragon Boat Festival. It's believed that the auspicious act of dotting the eyes of dragon boats, which can actually awaken the dragon, should be repeated each year before a race. The finals and the award ceremony will be held on the same day.

Colorful cultural activities will also be held during the two-day festival, including a contest of dragon boat model among teenagers across the Straits and a cross-Straits forum on the culture of Dragon Boat Festival.

The 2022 Cross-Straits Dragon Boat Race is co-organized by General Administration of Sport of China, CCTV-6 Movie Channel, Chinese Dragon Boat Association, Fujian Provincial Bureau of Sports and Xiamen government.

Audiences will be able to watch the finals of the race via livestreams on CCTV-5 Plus Sports Channel, convergence media platforms of CCTV-6 Movie Channel, and a live relay on new media platforms of China's state media outlets.

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