The first race of the 2024 China Dragon Boat Open Championship commenced on Saturday in Qingyuan City of south China's Guangdong Province, attracting 20 professional teams from across the country and 12 local teams from Qingyuan, adding to a lively atmosphere on the competition scene.
With the resounding beats of gongs and drums, the participating teams energetically propelled their vibrant dragon boats, evoking the imagery of majestic dragons conquering the waves. The riverbanks were teeming with a multitude of spectators, creating a vibrant atmosphere filled with continuous cheers and applause.
"I haven't watched a dragon boat race in a long time, so I came here specifically to experience the atmosphere. It's a great way to carry on the tradition of this festive event," said a spectator.
The event is categorized into divisions for men, women, general participants, and exhibition teams.
In this event, the dragon boat races include 100-meter, 200-meter, and 500-meter straight-line races and a 3000-meter race around buoys.
"We started preparing right after the Spring Festival, and we have been planning for three months. We will continue to work hard and strive to win the championship at every race this year," said a Sanya Dragon Boat Association member.
Many young dragon boat teams are participating in the competition this time, and many university students are competing for the first time.
"I'm a freshman, and I started preparing for this since I first entered university. The teams we are competing against are all formidable opponents, and many of them are in national teams. We are here to learn from their experience," said Zhan Yizhou, a member of the dragon boat team of South China Normal University.
The China Dragon Boat Open Championship, established in 2011, is a prestigious competition in dragon boat racing.
China's Dragon Boat Open Championship commences in Guangdong
Heavy rain in Gaza over the weekend killed several civilians, including an infant who drowned in flooding, the United Nations said Monday, warning that even moderate storms can have catastrophic consequences because of the lack of shelter and equipment.
The rains, which began on the evening of Nov 6, exposed the fragility of shelters, triggered widespread flooding, damaged humanitarian facilities and learning spaces, and disrupted essential services, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Speaking at a daily press briefing, Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN secretary-general, said that an infant reportedly drowned in the flooding and three children and at least one woman were killed when a sand dune collapsed onto their tents. Thousands of families have lost their shelters and belongings, he said.
UN humanitarian agencies and their partners have been pumping water from flooded camps, improving drainage, reinforcing displacement sites with sandbags and distributing emergency supplies. However, Haq said the response remains hampered by "far too little equipment and too few shelter materials" to meet the scale of need.
Speaking from Ramallah, Deputy Special Coordinator Ramiz Alakbarov said rain is natural, but people's vulnerability is man-made. Most people are living in worn-out tents that could not withstand what would be considered a moderate storm elsewhere, he said.
"This is, again, [as he mentioned] what would be regarded as moderate rainstorms elsewhere in the world, but because of the lack of equipment, because of the lack of resources and housing that can withstand this sort of shock, these are rainstorms that can have a catastrophic effect, including, as you just pointed out, on children," Haq said.
Alakbarov called for the urgent lifting of unnecessary restrictions and delays, including those preventing humanitarian organizations from bringing enough vacuum trucks, mobile dewatering pumps, heavy machinery, engine oil, spare parts, tents, tarpaulins, plastic sheeting, blankets and winter clothing into Gaza.
He also called for urgent humanitarian funding, without which the humanitarian community cannot buy enough supplies.
The UN also said strikes continue to hit populated areas of Gaza and cause further casualties.
UN warns of worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza after heavy rains
