As the Dragon Boat Festival approaches, the 2025 China Dragon Boat Open in Jingzhou City of central China's Hubei Province officially kicked off on Saturday morning, drawing a total of 35 teams from across the country, with nearly 1,000 athletes, coaches, and referees to the ancient city.
The two-day event features three competition categories: the Men's Open, Women's Open, and the Amateur Group. The Men's and Women's Open categories consist of 16 teams from across the nation, while the Amateur Group comprises 19 teams, with participants from all walks of life.
After making sufficient preparations, all teams offered their best performances to celebrate the sportsmanship, as well as the approaching festival.
"Everyone's teamwork performance and the cooperation of the whole team were excellent," said Zheng Changxin from the Fuzhou Dragon Boat Team, who championed the group stage of the 100-meter straight race with a stunning performance of 21 seconds.
Duanwu, or the Dragon Boat Festival, is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month on the Chinese lunar calendar to commemorate Chinese poet Qu Yuan from the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.), and has now become a national holiday when people enjoy eating zongzi and watching dragon boat races.
Hubei holds 2025 China Dragon Boat Open, attracting nearly 1,000 participants
Iran's official news agency IRNA said on Sunday the country has rejected taking part in the second round of the peace talks with the United States, after U.S. President Donald Trump said new negotiations would take place in Pakistan on Monday evening.
"My Representatives are going to Islamabad, Pakistan -- They will be there tomorrow evening, for Negotiations," Trump wrote in his Truth Social post on Sunday.
Trump also said that the U.S. has offered a "fair and reasonable" deal, and if Iran reject the deal, the U.S. will "knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran."
Iran's absence from the second round of talks "stems from what it called Washington's excessive demands, unrealistic expectations, constant shifts in stance, repeated contradictions, and the ongoing naval blockade, which it considers a breach of the ceasefire," IRNA said in a post on its English account on social media platform X.
In another report published in Farsi, IRNA said reports released about the second round of peace talks between Tehran and Washington in Islamabad are "not true."
It described the reports released by the United States as part of a "media game and in line with the blame game" to pressure Iran, stressing that the U.S. "excessive, illogical and unrealistic demands, frequent changing of positions, constant contradictory remarks, continuation of the so-called naval blockade" have so far prevented the negotiations' progress.
IRNA added under the present circumstances, there is "no bright prospect" for fruitful negotiations.
On Feb. 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and several other Iranian cities, killing Iran's then Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, along with senior military commanders and civilians. Iran responded by launching waves of missile and drone strikes targeting Israel and U.S. bases and assets in the Middle East, and exercising tight control over the Strait of Hormuz.
A ceasefire was achieved between the warring parties on April 8, which was followed by lengthy talks between the Iranian and U.S. delegations in Pakistan's capital Islamabad on April 11 and 12. After the peace negotiations in Islamabad collapsed, the United States imposed its own blockade on the waterway.
The Iranian and U.S. delegations were reportedly expected to hold another round of peace talks in Pakistan soon.
Trump affirms new round of talks in Pakistan while Iran rejects
