Traditional dragon boat race in south China's Guangdong attracts global competitors

Many foreign visitors tried their hand at the unique "water drifting" style of the Diejiao Village Dragon Boat race in Foshan City of south China's Guangdong Province during the ongoing three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday.

The Diejiao Dragon Boat race is a city-level intangible cultural heritage project in Foshan. The narrow and winding rivers there allow athletes, who are locally addressed as "Pa Zai" (rowers), to perform dramatic stunts such as drifting and sudden stops during the race, earning it the nickname "speed and passion" of dragon boat racing.

In the midst of this year's competition, some foreigners were paddling alongside Chinese dragon boat athletes. Forty-three-year-old Benjamin, a beer brewer from Germany, had been captivated by dragon boat racing after watching the Diejiao competition last year. This year, he specifically sought out a local dragon boat team to learn the sport.

"We got totally fascinated with the whole thing, with a chance to get in the boat and practice with the real team here and yeah, that was pretty cool. You have to try to follow the speed. I can definitely feel my arms now, it hurts," said Benjamin.

Despite his years of exercise and experience in rowing, he found dragon boating to be more challenging than he had imagined. With nearly 40 members on the boat, everyone's movements have to be perfectly synchronized to succeed, requiring all paddlers to unite as one.

Beyond training, his teammate, Wen Yongcheng, introduced him to local dragon boat cultural activities, sparking Benjamin's interest in this centuries-old intangible cultural heritage.

"More and more foreigners now want to know about the dragon boat culture. I think it is my duty to promote it. When I share it with them, I also feel a deep sense of pride. This is kind of cultural confidence," said Wen.

Another dragon boat enthusiast, Michael, also joined a dragon boat team in February. Despite the two-hour commuting to Diejiao, Michael never missed a practice over the past three months. His dedication to the sport is fueled not only by passion but also by the brotherhood with his teammates.

"It's very nice to be welcomed so warmly. They treated me like one of them from the beginning. We had another crash and I fell from the boat into the water. Then I was not even above the water and, already, two hands were grabbing me back into the into the boat. Culture has no borders. We can all embrace the beautiful things in life together," said Michael.

Dragon boat "Pa Zais" from around the world, working alongside local team members, have become a unique and vibrant part of this intangible cultural heritage, bringing new vitality into the centuries-old Diejiao Dragon Boat tradition.

"Watch the boat races here reminds me of a great winning spirit, team spirit, good effort, hard work. Much like we have a win-win relationship with our partner here," said Mike, a visitor from the U.S.

The Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional holiday that commemorates ancient patriotic poet Qu Yuan living in the latter part of the Warring States Period (476 BC - 221 BC). The festival falls upon the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. On the day people will have dragon boat contests, eat zongzi (glutinous rice treats wrapped in bamboo leaves) and drink realgar wine. This year's Dragon Boat Festival fell on Saturday.

Traditional dragon boat race in south China's Guangdong attracts global competitors

China's first 500-kV cross-border alternating-current power interconnection project entered service Monday, creating the highest voltage grid tie between the two countries and advancing Belt and Road energy cooperation.

The project raises two-way power transfer capacity between the two countries from 50,000 kW to 1.5 million kW, enabling the annual transmission of about 3 billion kWh of clean electricity, roughly 30 times the capacity of previous lines, according to China Southern Power Grid.

As the largest cross-border grid project and the highest-voltage power link between China and Laos, it connects southwest China's Yunnan Province with Oudomxay and Luang Namtha provinces in northern Laos.

Cross-border electricity trading began as the project entered operation. About 4.81 million kWh of power from clean energy bases in northern Laos was transmitted to Yunnan through the new line, marking a more regular and institutionalized phase of power connectivity between the two countries.

It is also the first time an overseas new energy project has participated in China's electricity market, the company said. The power involved in the transaction came from a large mountain photovoltaic project in Laos, one of the core supporting power sources for the interconnection line.

"This project is the cross-border power grid project with the highest voltage level between China and Laos. Leveraging the China-Laos power grid interconnection and the power markets in southern China, surplus hydropower from Laos can be transmitted to China during the rainy season, while China can supply supplemental power to northern Laos during the dry season. This project represents yet another landmark achievement between China and Laos in deepening power cooperation and jointly advancing the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative," said Li Jingru, general manager of Electricite du Laos Transmission Company Limited (EDL-T), a joint venture of China Southern Power Grid and Lao state-run Electricite du Laos.

The solar project has an average annual power generation capacity of about 1.65 billion kWh. In 2026, it is expected to transmit about 1.1 billion kWh of solar power across the border, supporting energy complementarity between the two countries.

"In the future, efforts will be made to further promote normalized cross-border electricity trading, meet the trading needs such as electricity transmission from Laos to China's Yunnan, from China's Yunnan to Laos, and from Laos to China's Guangdong, and facilitate the optimal allocation of energy resources in the Lancang-Mekong region," said Li Minhong, marketing director of China Southern Power Grid.

Construction of the interconnection project began in late February last year. Spanning a total length of 177.5 km, the transmission line includes a 145-km Chinese section and a 32.5-km Lao section.

New China-Laos power link expands transfer capacity 30-fold, boosts electricity trading