How Thrilling Was the Dragon Boat Festival in China's Top Water Rally Province?

Dragon boat racing is absolutely the top priority for Cantonese during the Dragon Boat Festival.

Click to watch "25m dragon boat drifting in narrow waterways".

The dragon boat races in the Pearl River Delta have gone viral on major social platforms, leaving countless northerners utterly amazed. Witnessing "dragon boat drifting," "dragon boat emergency braking," and "landlords pushing their limits," northerners now realize that dragon boating is far from the formalistic, outdated tradition they imagined. Instead, it’s a top-tier sport brimming with vigor, skill, and adrenaline—capable of electrifying a city and drawing massive crowds.

Diejiao, Foshan: The breathtaking spectacle of dragon boat drifting.

Fig.1; Photo/前方高能; Fig.2; Photo/一只肉鱼

Speed and thrill, however, are just one facet of Cantonese dragon boat culture. In terms of duration alone, the "Dragon Boat Month" is enough to astonish outsiders: at its extreme, activities can start as early as the eighth day of the fourth lunar month with the "Awakening the Dragon" ceremony and last until the end of the fifth lunar month.

Many Cantonese bosses even face the serious issue of losing key employees during this period—especially left-rowers, drummers, and helmsmen. Some take annual or extended leave, others opt for unpaid leave, and a few simply vanish, because "work can wait, but dragon boats cannot."

Long before the holiday, training videos from across the Pearl River Delta began circulating. Teams secretly crafted equipment in gyms, practiced overnight under ancestral scrutiny in clan halls, splurged on carbon-fiber paddles, or drilled maneuvering by rowing bow-to-stern on a single boat—all to achieve wild speed and razor-sharp control.

As the saying goes, "Corners belong to Foshan, straightaways to Dongguan." In Diejiao, Foshan, this year’s insane drifting races finally kicked off. On these long boats, rowers functioned like modular engines, adhering to the principle of "better wrecked than slow," executing endless drifts, brutal turns, and sudden stops with such precision, energy, and spectacle that even Dakar Rally or F1 might pale in comparison.

Dragon boating in narrow waterways.

On vast waters like Dongguan’s Wanjiang, straight-line races showcase athlete-level prowess. Commentators track stroke rates in real time as teams charge through the turbulent "Lion Sea." Drummers, reading currents and crew dynamics, flip their drumsticks, syncing the rowers into a single, pulse-pounding rhythm that leaves spectators exhilarated.

These winner-takes-all races are traditionally called "Dou Long" (Dragon Battles) or "Dou Biao" (Flag Battles). Their intensity and drama make them social media favorites. Yet it’s crucial to note that "Dou Biao" is just one part of Cantonese dragon boating’s intricate customs. To me, "Chen Jing" (Scene-Joining) better captures its essence.

To explain "Chen Jing," we must first discuss the "dragon boat" itself—the vessel that carries this tradition.

A dragon boat isn’t just a narrow, dragon-headed racing shell; it’s a sacred folk artifact. Cantonese revere it as a living dragon, subject to elaborate rituals before use. Many places still forbid shoes on board, and firecrackers warn bridge-goers to clear the path—lest stepping over the boat disrespect the dragon.

For Pearl Delta villages, a dragon boat embodies communal pride. Modern racing boats, often cedar-built, are fast but lack prestige. Traditional villages preserve "elders"—boats made of Malaysian belian wood, heavy and rot-resistant, buried in mud or ponds when idle. Foshan’s Yanbu "Old Dragon," nearly 600 years old, still sports the white beard of age and the pheasant-tail plumes gifted by Empress Dowager Cixi.

The dragon head of the "Rooster-Head" boat.

Photo/自然造物

Personification extends beyond decoration: boats forge bonds between villages and clans. Friendly villages have "brother boats"; Foshan’s Yanbu Old Dragon even "adopted" Guangzhou’s Pantang boat as its godson. Xinqiao Village has a "male" and "female" dragon believed to lay eggs yearly—represented by fruits tossed from a temple roof for villagers to catch as lucky charms.

While Lunar New Year is for family visits, dragon boats are how allied villages or clans socialize en masse during the festival.

From the eighth of the fourth lunar month, villagers exhume the boat, oil it, and adorn it with fresh crops ("Cai Qing"). Elders conduct rites to summon the dragon spirit, affix its head and tail, and dot the eyes with rooster blood. Amid gongs and firecrackers, the boat embarks on its month-long mission of competition and camaraderie.

After the dragon boat is awakened, the village begins organizing manpower to train for rowing while simultaneously sending invitations to dragon boats from generations-old friendly villages, known as "Zhaojing" (inviting the scene). The invited villages gladly accept and row their boats to attend, called "Yingjing" (responding to the scene). Indeed, during "Yingjing," dragon boats are not just props for competition or performance but actual means of transportation crossing rivers and waterways.

Photo by Brother Erzhong

The friendship between dragon boats may stem not only from marital ties but also historical bonds. For instance, the Yanbu Old Dragon Boat’s recognition of its godson originated from a centuries-old competition where both villages displayed admirable sportsmanship, leading to mutual respect and kinship. Another example is Yagang Village in Shimen Street, Guangzhou, and the Banghu area in Renhe Town, which, despite being over ten kilometers apart, always "Yingjing" each other during the Dragon Boat Festival.

This tradition dates back over 300 years when, during a Dragon Boat Festival gathering, Banghu’s dragon boats encountered danger near Yagang. Yagang’s dragon boats happened to be nearby, so the villagers rowed closely alongside Banghu’s boats, escorting them back to Yagang for safety—a tale called "Two Dragons Set Sail, Four Dragons Return." Since then, the two villages have referred to each other as kin, not only visiting annually during the festival but also supporting each other for centuries.

Historically, villages hosting "Zhaojing" followed customary schedules, with larger gatherings mostly concentrated from the 1st to the 5th day of the fifth lunar month. The locations of these events were even memorized through local rhymes. Today, villages also announce their "Zhaojing" schedules and dragon boat visitation routes in advance via official social media channels.

In larger villages near wide river mouths, the "Jing" is spectacular. For example, Guangzhou’s "Chebei Jing" was designated as an "official Jing" during the Qing Dynasty, meaning any village could attend uninvited and still be welcomed. At its peak, hundreds of dragon boats were hosted in a single day. Similar "dragon boat hubs" exist in Foshan, Dongguan, and Zhongshan, where dragon boat activities have become intangible cultural heritage. During the season, waterways buzz with boats, firecrackers, and bustling crowds, creating endless excitement.

Dragon boats in narrow urban waterways.

Photo by Lu Wen

With modern urban development, new "wealthy villages" like Guangzhou’s Liede Village (Liede Subdistrict) have become focal points. This village boasts a long dragon boat tradition and, more notably, sits in Tianhe CBD with the Canton Tower as its backdrop, earning it the title of "China’s No. 1 Wealthy Village." Many famous "landlord memes" originate here.

During its "Zhaojing," Liede dazzles with its financial might, attracting not only villagers but also urban residents, office workers, delivery riders, and tourists—all eager to witness "the rare spectacle of the wealthy performing for you." What was once a rural bonding ritual has become a vibrant urban public event. Notably, while Guangzhou bans firecrackers, Liede is an exception during the festival.

Photo by Lu Wen

As a guest boat arrives at a host village’s waters, it typically rows in and out three times as a gesture of respect. Some even row back and forth repeatedly to entertain the crowd. The host village then sends elders to swim aboard, halt the drumming, and invite everyone ashore for hospitality. Though many visiting villages today share no blood ties, they affectionately call each other "cousin," weaving a warm network of kinship through waterways and dragon boats.

Performance-style dragon boat rowing.

Guests never arrive empty-handed. When the Yanbu Old Dragon visits its godson in Pantang, Pantang adorns the boat with red flowers and silk, then gifts a roasted pig, banners, rice wine, dragon boat cakes, and local specialties like water chestnut powder. Yanbu reciprocates with regional produce like autumn eggplants.

After friendly performances, some villages hold "Doubiao" (racing competitions). Races vary: upstream, downstream, straight-line, circular, fixed-distance, or free-form—each reflecting the village’s character and geography. For example, villages near the Lion Sea, with wide, turbulent rivers, favor fierce speed races ("Dragon Battles"), hence the saying "Straight races? Watch Dongguan." In contrast, the slow currents of the West River system emphasize technical rowing skills.

Liede Village’s waterborne festivities during the Dragon Boat Festival.

Today, cities and larger organizations also host dragon boat races, coexisting with traditional village events during the festival. Promotional materials often specify whether races ("Doubiao") or visits ("Yingjing") are included. While tournaments focus purely on competition, village or neighborhood "Dragon Boat Culture Festivals" typically blend both traditions.

After performances and races, villagers—especially children—leap into the river to bathe in "dragon boat water," considered auspicious. The festivities conclude with a grand communal feast at the ancestral hall: the Dragon Boat Meal.

A roasted pig prepared for the Dragon Boat Festival.

Originally, Dragon Boat Meals were simple mixed seafood, meat, vegetables, and rice served in large buckets, ensuring rowers, staff, villagers, and guests could eat heartily. Ingredients carry symbolism: some regions stir-fry "dragon boat dishes" with chili and preserved radish, where chili wards off dampness for rowers, and radish signifies "good luck." Sacrificial offerings like roasted pigs are also shared post-event.

Dragon boat feast, plate after plate of enticing roast pork.

As everyone's lives improve, the dragon boat feast has gradually become a grand rural banquet. Apart from certain villages having particular customs (for example, some villages avoid fish in the dragon boat feast for fear of it being flipped, which is considered unlucky), and every dish carrying auspicious meanings related to dragon boats, its process and dishes are entirely those of a conventional and sumptuous Cantonese banquet.

But the dishes themselves aren’t actually the point, because in the hearts of Cantonese people, this dragon boat feast is almost on par with, or even surpasses, the significance of the New Year's Eve dinner. Once a year, the entire village—young and old, even friends from neighboring villages—gathers to toast and celebrate. Amid the revelry, they also embrace the auspicious symbolism. Thus, no matter how heavy the "dragon boat rain" (in the Pearl River Delta, the rain during the dragon boat month is called "dragon boat water"), nothing can stop them from enjoying this feast.

With bellies full and night falling, after the final race concludes, the dragon head will be returned to the Dragon King Temple, while the body of the old dragon boat will once again be buried in the riverbed mud—a ritual called "hiding the dragon." Only then is the Cantonese Dragon Boat Festival officially over. Afterward, everyone returns to their routines: collecting rent, going to work, or job hunting. Through this dragon boat month, the unity of the clan and the bonds among villagers undoubtedly grow stronger.

Village children and the boat body about to be "hidden."