A team of Chinese garment entrepreneurs with almost zero rowing experience won a dragon boat race in Yiwu, a globally renowned hub for small commodities in east China's Zhejiang Province, on Saturday, just 24 hours after forming their team.
The Yiwu Commerce-Trade Dragon Boat Team, which comprises 12 shirt factory owners from Yiwu's Dachen Town, dominated the inaugural "Yiwu Striving Force" game, though 11 of the members had never touched an oar before.
The hastily assembled team of factory bosses beat seasoned rivals on the swollen Dachen River, blending business grit with ancient tradition in a vivid display of teamwork.
Lou Baodi, coach of the dragon boat team, trained the novice racers with basic movements, especially the starting techniques. The real challenge came when drumbeats signaled real action, the moment calling for synchronizing muscle movement with mind.
"The starting is the most important part which is decisive to the outcome of the competition. Coordination lives in their thoughts but not yet in their hands. Paddling requires concerted efforts from every body, otherwise it will be too heavy to pull. They need to be more familiar with rowing," said Lou.
"I paddle on the right, and my shoulder, hand, waist, hip and calf are all sore," said Pan Xiangqian, a team member. As the only female member, entrepreneur Sheng Jingjing, who owns a company with an annual output value of 100 million yuan (around 14 million U.S. dollars), exporting products to Europe and Americas, stood out in the dragon boat team.
"I'm a little afraid of holding them back, as physically I'm weaker than my male teammates. So, I've done some strength training and now I feel I'm getting my way at it. I think I'm able to keep up with their pace," said Sheng.
Sheng said cooperation in dragon boat race is very important just like entrepreneurs working together for better business.
"For dragon boat race, I think what's been extremely important is cooperation. The same applies to doing business -- you've got to cooperate with partners to make the company better," she said.
Setting the rhythm was drummer Chen Hongqi, Communist Party Secretary in Dachen's Hongqi Village who grouped and captained this team and saw leadership echoes in every drumbeat.
"It's my first time to be a drummer, who is the de-facto navigator of a dragon boat, like us bosses leading a company. Yiwu is the place with the most 'bosses' in the country. Yiwu entrepreneurs always seek development collectively in a group, just like a dragon boat. Only when we work together can we go further and faster," said Chen.
The entrepreneurs striving for victory in the dragon boat race fully demonstrated their spirit of persistence and teamwork, which they believe helpful to them in addressing challenges in the global market.
"Getting involved in this sport, I've found out that we entrepreneurs can do what others can. And for what others can't do, we should strive even harder to find a way to do it. It's the same in doing business. When the trade war came, Yiwu bosses didn't retreat and rest. We just kept exploring new markets. We will do all these things at hand very seriously every day, and deliver 100 percent of our efforts," Pan said.
"Whether it is to strive for rankings or do it as a recreational activity for a team, it all represents the friendship of these clothing enterprises banging together to tide over difficulties, a spirit deserves to be passed on. On this basis, whether in the domestic sales market or the foreign trade market, we can forge ahead with greater confidence," he said.
Yiwu garment entrepreneurs row to victory in dragon boat race
