Dragon boat events are underway across China, from Tianjin's Haihe River to Shenzhen's coastal waters, attracting international participants to celebrate Chinese tradition.
The Duanwu Festival, or Dragon Boat Festival, falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar. This year it began on Friday and runs through Sunday.
In north China's Tianjin, the Haihe River Dragon Boat Race has become an annual festival highlight, with dozens of local teams competing and expatriate employees joining in recent years.
Dragon boat racing has a history in Germany dating back to the 1980s, when the city of Duisburg hosted the country's first such event.
"I've seen it here today the first time. Here in China, it's totally the same -- the same boat, also the drumming and the yelling of the people," said Thomas, staff member of a German company.
The third Frankfurt International Dragon Boat Festival just concluded in Germany on June 14, with a series of traditional Chinese cultural activities attracting many locals and international visitors.
"I really like to experience the festival here. You see all the people racing here, and I think it would be very crowded. I like the atmosphere here on the river, of course, to be with my team together and try to win the race," said a German national working in China who goes by the Chinese name Wu Silan.
Having watched dragon boat races in Germany, Wu Silan developed a keen interest in Chinese culture, and despite his busy work schedule he has never missed a single training session, saying the sport has inspired him with valuable lessons.
"We're German. We're Chinese. We're women; We're men. I think it's good to be together and have one goal. And work is same like a sport. Only when you have one direction in the team and everybody works together, you go forward," he said.
In south China's Shenzhen, a distinctive coastal water dragon boat race was held at Nan'ao Moon Bay. For the first time, the event brought together students from Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies to form an international team.
A series of activities, including intangible cultural heritage performances and spin-off cultural product markets, were also held during the race, injecting new international vitality into the traditional event.
Heritage performances and cultural markets ran alongside the race, giving the traditional event fresh international appeal.
Dragon boat races across China draw international participants
U.S. stocks ended mixed on Wednesday as cooler-than-expected inflation data was offset by persistent pressure from elevated U.S. Treasury yields and rising oil prices.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 443.87 points, or 0.86 percent, to 50,906.05. The benchmark Standard and Poor's 500 dipped 19.3 points, or 0.25 percent, to 7,651.54, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index gained 63.52 points, or 0.24 percent, to close at 26,861.06.
Nine of the 11 primary Standard and Poor's 500 sectors ended in the red, with consumer staples and health leading the decliners by dropping 1.68 percent and 1.39 percent, respectively. Technology and consumer discretionary advanced 0.61 percent and 0.13 percent, respectively.
On the macroeconomic front, the U.S. Commerce Department reported that the headline personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rose 3.4 percent year on year in August, coming in below consensus forecasts of 3.7 percent and easing from levels sustained throughout much of the summer. The core PCE price index, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, climbed 3 percent, lower than expectations of a 3.3 percent increase and marking a drop from 3.3 percent in July. On a monthly basis, core PCE rose 0.2 percent, edging down 0.1 percentage point from the previous month and coming in below a projected gain of 0.3 percent.
Complementing the inflation readout, payroll processor ADP reported that private sector employment grew by 90,000 jobs in September, rebounding notably from the 36,000 jobs added in August and pointing to resilience in domestic hiring.
The softening inflation figures, coupled with dovish commentary from New York Federal Reserve President John Williams noting "no need for urgency" to hike rates next month, prompted traders to sharply scale back tightening expectations. According to the CME FedWatch tool, the implied probability of an interest rate increase at the central bank's October meeting fell to 37 percent, down markedly from more than 70 percent priced in a week earlier. Despite the easing rate-hike expectations, equity markets remained constrained by elevated sovereign debt yields and firming energy prices. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note edged up over 4 basis points to 5.291 percent, hovering near multi-decade highs reached earlier in the week, while the 30-year bond yield rose over 6 basis points to 5.634 percent.
In commodity markets, crude oil benchmarks moved higher on Wednesday. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery added 1.04 U.S. dollars, or 1.16 percent, to settle at 90.42 dollars a barrel. Brent crude for November delivery rose 94 cents, or 0.92 percent, to finish at 103.53 dollars a barrel.
In other corporate news, Boeing ended 0.87 percent lower, erasing early gains after the plane maker was selected by the U.S. Navy for its next-generation fighter program. Robinhood Markets declined 3.2 percent after the company announced new active trading products. Micron's earnings after the bell will also offer investors insights into the state of the memory and AI markets.
U.S. stocks close mixed despite cooler inflation report
