Canceled last year because of the SARS epidemic, the seasonal dragon boat races make a welcome return to the capital's sporting calendar tomorrow when rowers representing over 90 teams take to the waters of the Dachia section (大佳段) of the Keelung River (基隆河) to compete in the first day of the 2004 Taipei City International Dragon Boat Championship (2004台北國際龍舟錦標賽).
Organized by the Education Department of Taipei City Government (臺北市政府教育局), this year's dragon boat races will see over 2,000 individuals representing a total of 88 local teams and six foreign teams each of comprises a coxswain, a flag catcher, a drummer and 18 rowers vying for the top spot.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
The three-day event, which is held to celebrate the Duanwu Festival (端午節), will come to a climax next Tuesday when the teams that prove their mettle in the early heats battle it out for cash prizes and the chance to hoist the Presidential Cup in the race finals.
The Duanwu, or Dragon Boat Festival as it's more often referred to nowadays, falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. While dragon boats were, according to historians, originally used as part of a complex shamanistic ceremony for supplicating the water gods in order to prevent floods and other such watery natural disasters over 3,000 years ago, the death of the poet and respected bureaucrat, Chu Yuan (屈原) in 290 BC, saw the boats become an integral part of popular Chinese culture.
And, while Taiwan's races are pretty new when compared to races in China, the dragon boat race has been held in Taipei for 120 years.
According to the legend, Yuan was a loyal and trusted adviser to the King of Chu during the Warring States period (BC 475 to 221), until he was discredited by a group of scheming rivals. Unable to regain the emperor's favor, Yuan clasped a stone to his chest and plunged into a nearby river.
Respected and revered by the people of Chu, Yuan's suicide shocked the nation. Upon hearing the news large numbers of citizens jumped into their boats and rushed out in a vain attempt to save him. They arrived too late, needless to say, and Yuan met his end in the waters of the Milo River in Hunan Province (湖南省).
To the beat of the drum
The beating of drums and splashing of oars that are now such an integral part of the dragon boat races are meant to mimic the frantic search for Yuan.
Organizers always ensure that there are plenty of safety boats in and around the race area in order to prevent any of the competitors from emulating Yuan, but this year's race differs somewhat from previous events.
For many years animosity between the Taipei City and Taipei County governments meant that there were two separate dragon boat races in the Taipei area. Bitan (碧潭) was the venue for the Taipei County Congressional Cup, which was traditionally held a week before the Taipei City event, while the Keelung River hosted the Presidential Cup. The two governments' have decided to forgo political differences this year, however, and the Bitan racers will join their fellow dragon boaters for a single unified competition.
"I think the merger of the two races is good for everybody. More teams means it will be more competitive and hopefully the event will attract a lot more attention both at home and abroad," said Lai Ju-soon (賴昭順) of the education department of Taipei City Government. "We've got more expat teams competing this year and we've decided not to separate them into their own division. For the first time all the teams, regardless of where they come from will race against each other."
The competition is divided into three categories -- competitive, invitational and public servant -- within which there are nine divisions: high school boys, male and female open, invitational, mixed and four classes for
government workers and public servants.
The number of boats competing in each division ranges from between three and 25. The largest and the most competitive of the divisions is the Men's Open. As the most hotly contested division, the Men's Open includes teams from South Africa, New Zealand and the Philippines, as well as race favorites Taipei Physical Education College (臺北市立體育學院), Fu Ren Catholic University (輔仁大學) and the top-seeded international team, Thailand.
Along with organizational changes, the course itself has also been altered. Whereas past races have been run on a course measuring a total length of 600m, with a turn- around marker at 300m, this year's course is straight and covers a distance of 500m.
"It was designed to make the races faster, more fluid and more interesting for onlookers," said Lai. "The new course will enable teams to row flat out rather then slowing down to turn around. We should see some very fast times and some very exciting races."
While teams competing in the Men's Open division take the event very seriously, there are still plenty of teams who compete for fun and who treat the races as a social event, as opposed to a battle.
"We're only in the competition for the fun of entering it. We've seen the other teams and they all look better than us," said Desmond Lu (盧志輝) of the United Hotel (國聯大飯店隊) team. "The university teams are very fit."
Unlike the more professional teams, many of whom have taken to the water on a daily basis over the past several weeks to hone their dragon boat skills, Lu's team has managed to train only three times. And with an average age of 30 on the team, he doesn't see it doing that well in the competition.
"We've got better with practice but we're still not that good. In fact, we've got a few female members of staff that are better then some of men, we're that mismatched," he said.
A three-day long party
Fun may be the name of the game for the less serious teams, but actually rowing one of the heavy wooden boats is hard work. According to John Nixon of the Taipei European School Team (台北歐洲學校隊), the weight of the boats makes gaining good momentum from the starting line difficult, but it is a very important part of the race if you want to win.
Like Lu's team, Nixon's squad is participating in the event for fun and the team has also had little time to practice since it registered to participate. Not that Nixon is worried. He feels that taking part in dragon boat races is more important that winning.
"It's an opportunity to support the Taipei City Government and the community," said Nixon. "My wife is originally from Brazil and she's the drummer so we'll be rowing to a samba rhythm. I'm very optimistic about coming second in a two-boat race."
The Dragon Boat Festival has developed into more than just a day at the races for the hundreds of participants and thousands of spectators over the years. Performances by local bands and theatrical groups, food fairs and a host of family related activities have transformed the dragon boat race days into a three-day long party.
This year's performances will include shows from several classical and popular musical and groups from Taiwan, shows by theatrical groups and a special show by Japanese spiritual drummers. As well as performances there will also be numerous stalls selling food and Duanwu festival related goodies.
The 2004 Taipei City International Dragon Boat Championship begins at the Dachia Riverside Park (大佳河濱公園) tomorrow at 9am, with races commencing at 9:30am. The event will continue on Monday and Tuesday, when races will take place from 9:30am to 12pm, and then again from 1pm to 4pm daily.
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