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CHARGED SPORTS DRAGON BOAT RACING: THE MODERN ANCIENT SPORT
DRAGON BOAT RACING THE MODERN ANCIENT SPORT TEXT: PETER TANG
PHOTO: PETER ZHAO
Vancouver offers a wide variety of sports that provide a good workout and a good social aspect, but how many of them place you in the middle of Vancouver’s picturesque False Creek with a team of 19 other people racing up and down in a long boat? The Dragon Boat festival is known throughout the world as an Asian culturaltradition that originated in the Guangdong province of China. It first started as an ancient folk ritual between contending villagers. However over the years it hasspread throughout the world, making it a fun, competitive sport on a global scale. Vancouver’s Dragon Boat scene has been around for a while now, with the first festival being held in 1989 to showcase the city’s proud cultural diversity. It was at first a very difficult sport to adapt to for a Western society where no Canadian understood what to do, but it has since grown into a large recreational activity for many Vancouverites and has even created a community surrounding the sport.
CHARGED MAGAZINE | MAY 2012