New York ETO Promotes Hong Kong's Cultural Heritage at Dragon Boat Festival

New York ETO promotes Hong Kong's vibrant culture at dragon boat festival

The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York (New York ETO) continues to support the 36th Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York (HKDBF-NY), a role it has held since founding the festival in 1990.

This year's festival marks the 40th anniversary of Hong Kong's gift of teak wood dragon boats to citiesacross North America, including New York City, introducing this centuries-old Chinese tradition to the continent. This legacy takes centre stage this weekend with a special invitational race to commemorate the anniversary, alongside a display of the traditional teak wood dragon boats for visitors throughout the weekend.

At the festival opening ceremony on August 8 (New York time), the Director of the New York ETO, Ms Maisie Ho, reflected on this legacy and how the HKDBF-NY, one of New York City's largest multicultural festivals, has brought people together for 36 years, proving that sport has a unique power to connect and unite people.

Ms Ho said the festival is a celebration of heritage, resilience and teamwork, noting that the vigour, determination and camaraderie shown by the competing athletes reflect the same qualities that define Hong Kong – a cosmopolitan and vibrant gateway city that connects business, talent and ideas, while remaining firmly rooted in its cultural heritage.

Ms Ho added that the festival is a testament to the enduring friendship between Hong Kong and New York and the United States, fostering mutual understanding and strengthening cultural and people-to-people ties. "Our office remains committed to building on this relationship in the years ahead," she said.

This weekend's festivities also coincide with a milestone moment for dragon boating worldwide, as the International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF) recently relocated its global headquarters back to Hong Kong in July, marking a homecoming to the birthplace of the modern dragon boat movement. The IDBF's World Dragon Boat Racing Championships will also return to Hong Kong next year for the first time since 1997. Ms Ho noted that this development was a vote of confidence in Hong Kong as a world-class hub for international sport.

Ahead of the race weekend, Ms Ho and representatives of the festival's major sponsors gathered in Hudson Yards on July 15 for the traditional "awakening" ceremony, dotting the eyes of the dragons in a ritual believed to bring good fortune to the racers. Then on August 7, the festival's organising committee took the celebration to Wall Street, ringing the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange, a nod to the festival's place in New York's cultural and sporting calendar.

Over the two-day festival, more than 170 teams and over 1 800 paddlers battled for the podium in front of a strong crowd. Beyond the races, the New York ETO had a festival booth to promote Hong Kong to visitors. Visitors all enjoyed delectable Hong Kong street food, vibrant cultural and musical performances, alongside martial arts and arts and crafts demonstrations throughout the festival grounds.

The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York (New York ETO) continues to support the 36th Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York (HKDBF-NY), a role it has held since founding the festival in 1990. The Director of the New York ETO, Ms Maisie Ho (front row, fourth left), joins the Chairman of the HKDBF-NY, Henry Wan (front row, fifth left), Head of Corporate Affairs at New York Stock Exchange, Will Goodwin (front row, sixth left), and other HKDBF-NY board members to ring in the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange on August 7 (New York time) to usher in the HKDBF-NY. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York (New York ETO) continues to support the 36th Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York, a role it has held since founding the festival in 1990. The Director of the New York ETO, Ms Maisie Ho (front row, fifth left), joins invited guests in the dragon boat eye-dotting ceremony in New York’s Hudson Yards on July 15 (New York time), to launch the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The HKETONY Dragon Riders, the dragon boat team of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York, took part in the 36th Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York on August 8-9 (New York time). Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The HKETONY Dragon Riders, the dragon boat team of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York, took part in the 36th Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York on August 8-9 (New York time). Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York (New York ETO) continues to support the 36th Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York, a role it has held since founding the festival in 1990. Over the two-day festival, the New York ETO had a festival booth to promote Hong Kong to visitors. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York (New York ETO) continues to support the 36th Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York, a role it has held since founding the festival in 1990. Over the two-day festival, the New York ETO had a festival booth to promote Hong Kong to visitors.Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York continues to support the 36th Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York, a role it has held since founding the festival in 1990. Over the two-day festival, more than 170 teams and over 1 800 paddlers battled for the podium in front of a strong crowd. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York (New York ETO) continues to support the 36th Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York, a role it has held since founding the festival in 1990. Speaking at the opening ceremony on August 8 (New York time), the Director of the New York ETO, Ms Maisie Ho (right) said the festival is a testament to the enduring friendship between Hong Kong and New York and the United States, fostering mutual understanding and strengthening cultural and people-to-people ties. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York (New York ETO) continues to support the 36th Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York, a role it has held since founding the festival in 1990. Photo shows the Director of the New York ETO, Ms Maisie Ho (third right), and the Deputy Consul General of the People's Republic of China in New York, Mr Ma Xiaoxiao (second right), taking part in the eye-dotting ceremony marking the opening of the festival on August 8 (New York time). Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York (New York ETO) continues to support the 36th Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York, a role it has held since founding the festival in 1990. Photo shows the Director of the New York ETO, Ms Maisie Ho (front row, fourth left); the Deputy Consul General of the People's Republic of China in New York, Mr Ma Xiaoxiao (front row, fifth left); the Chairman of the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York, Mr Henry Wan (front row, third left), and other dignitaries officiating at the ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the opening of the festival on August 8 (New York time). Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Director of Health signs co-operation agreement on research for testing and standards of Chinese medicines with NMPA and attends Beijing-Hong Kong Health Cooperation Exchange Conference co-hosted with BJHC in Beijing

The Director of Health, Dr Ronald Lam, led a delegation from the Department of Health (DH) to Beijing today (September 9) to pay a visit to the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA). In addition to exchanging information on the latest progress in promoting scientific regulation and innovation in drugs and medical devices, both sides also signed a co-operation agreement to further deepen collaborations and exchanges in testing technologies of Chinese medicine (CM) and the internationalisation of CM standards. On the same day, the DH and the Beijing Municipal Health Commission (BJHC) co-hosted the Beijing-Hong Kong Health Cooperation Exchange Conference, with a view to jointly advancing the high-quality healthcare development in Hong Kong.

Witnessed by the Commissioner of the NMPA, Mr Huang Guo, Dr Lam and the Director General of the Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs Office of the NMPA, Ms He Li, signed a co-operation agreement on research for CM testing and standards to further extend and deepen collaboration in this area, which has spanned more than a decade.

Under the co-operation agreement, both sides will strengthen exchanges and collaborations in the standards and technologies of CM covering research on and formulation of standards for Chinese Materia Medica, CM decoction pieces, proprietary CM and CM granules; the development of testing technologies; as well as safety tests and risk control for the quality of CM, through multiple channels such as expert meetings, seminars and training. Both sides will also deepen talent training and technical interfacing in accordance with the co-operation agreement, with a view to promoting CM standards and testing technology innovation in alignment with international standards.

Dr Lam thanked the NMPA and its affiliated institution, the National Institute for Drug Control (NIDC), for their longstanding support for CM development in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The permanent building of the Government Chinese Medicines Testing Institute under the DH commenced operations late last year. The Chinese Medicines Herbarium inside has received professional technical guidance from the NMPA and the NIDC, and was endowed with more than 300 valuable and representative specimens of Chinese Materia Medica commonly used nationwide, enriching its collections and enhancing public understanding of CM.

Dr Lam remarked that the Outline of the National 15th Five-Year Plan has promulgated to advance the inheritance and innovation of CM and to promote its global expansion. The DH will actively leverage its technical strengths in CM testing and quality control to become an important anchor for CM going global, and to strengthen the exploration, utilisation and research of global medicinal resources. This co-operation arrangement will extend the longstanding close collaboration, and further enhance testing expertise level as well as quality and safety control of CM to promote the development of Hong Kong as a bridgehead for CM going global.

Regarding scientific regulation and innovative development of drugs and medical devices, Dr Lam also introduced the establishment of the Hong Kong Centre for Medical Products Regulation, the preparatory work for the 30th Global Harmonization Working Party Annual Meeting and Technical Committee Meeting scheduled for December this year, and the progress of the 2026 annual bilateral work plan, covering issues on strengthening cross-boundary drug regulation and enhancing training and exchanges between the two sides in different areas such as primary evaluation of new drugs and Good Clinical Practice (GCP) for clinical trials of pharmaceutical products.

In the afternoon of the same day, upon the invitation of the BJHC, the DH co-hosted the annual Beijing-Hong Kong Health Cooperation Exchange Conference during the 2026 China International Fair for Trade in Services. Other co-organisers included the Hong Kong Hospital Authority, the Beijing Municipal Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the Beijing Municipal Disease Prevention and Control Administration, the Beijing Hospitals Authority and the Cross-straits Medicine Exchange Association. The theme of this year's conference is "Beijing and Hong Kong, Join Hands for a Shared Healthy Future", focusing on discussions of smart healthcare, transformation of scientific achievements, inheritance and innovation of CM and public health emergency response.

Dr Lam said that this year is significant as it marks the beginning of the National 15th Five-Year Plan. Under the principle of complementing each other in bringing about mutual benefits, the DH will continue to promote exchanges and collaborations with Beijing, actively integrate into and serve the overall national development, and implement a health-first development strategy to fully leverage Hong Kong's distinctive advantages of having strong support of the motherland and being closely connected to the world to contribute to a "Healthy China".

At the meeting, DH representatives shared how, under the framework of building a health big data ecosystem, Hong Kong's Electronic Health System (eHealth) connects the public and private healthcare sectors to enable realtime sharing of electronic health records, empower citizens to manage their own health, and optimise the allocation of healthcare resources through bigdata analytics. They also introduced Hong Kong's CM regulatory regime and the formulation of CM standards and advancing innovations in testing. Representatives also highlighted Hong Kong's commitment to strengthening primary healthcare under the guiding principle of "prevention first, community-based". The reform is being deepened through chronic disease co-care, intensified tobacco control, and the development of community networks. These measures aim to integrate health management into daily life and encourage citizens to take on the role of being the "first person responsible" for their own health.

During Dr Lam's stay in Beijing, he will also attend some activities on Health and Wellness Service at the 2026 China International Fair for Trade in Services, and pay a visit to related public health authorities.

Director of Health signs co-operation agreement on research for testing and standards of Chinese medicines with NMPA and attends Beijing-Hong Kong Health Cooperation Exchange Conference co-hosted with BJHC in Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Director of Health signs co-operation agreement on research for testing and standards of Chinese medicines with NMPA and attends Beijing-Hong Kong Health Cooperation Exchange Conference co-hosted with BJHC in Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Director of Health signs co-operation agreement on research for testing and standards of Chinese medicines with NMPA and attends Beijing-Hong Kong Health Cooperation Exchange Conference co-hosted with BJHC in Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases