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Duan Wu Festival, it is also known as Dragon Boat Festival. It falls on the fifth day of fifth month in Chinese Lunar Calendar. It always reminds me the mandarin text book during primary school days. That's the story of the famous Chinese scholar Qu Yuan who was a loyal minister serving the King of Chu. Qu Yuan drowned himself at the age of 37 in the Miluo River due to the sorrow from his sovereign and people over time. The people of Chu rushed to save him and searched for him with their boats but it was unsuccessful. The people began the tradition of throwing cooked rice into the river in hope that the fishes would not eat Qu Yuan's body if the fishes were not hungry. Hence, the tradition of wrapping rice in bamboo leaves to make dumpling (Zong Zi) and dragon boat festival began to commemorate Qu Yuan, the righteous man. (Wikepedia, 2010)

The ladies were ready for the race confidently. They got themselves into the final race yesterday. Good Luck!

I like this uniform, the pink challengers! Women nowadays are getting stronger ya!

This is the first time to see such Dragon Boat Race. Audrey was totally blur about the race, according to my friend, she said this is just the preparation to paddle to the starting point from the jetty and the race shall begin in the middle of the lake and back to the jetty.

On Your Mark, Get set & Go! Nah! This is not the starting of the race yet. A longer zoom lense is needed for such a distance shot in the competition but I sold it off last week. It is a little regret that Audrey could not be able to take many shots when they were in middle of the lake. The paddlers' expression must be great as they were paddling to the destination during the race.

The standard crew number for the dragon boat is around 22 which is comprised of 20 paddlers, a drummer at the bow of the boat & a helmsman at the rear of the boat. The pulsation of the drum beats is considered as the heartbeat of the dragon boat. The drummer leads the paddlers by using the rhythmic drum beat to indicate the frequency and synchronicity of all paddlers' strokes. The helmsman is the one who guides the boat from the back by using sweep oar. A slight movements with the sweep oar will give great changes in direction. The helmsman must constantly be aware of the boat's surroundings as he is the only person who is able to con the boat looking forward. He also has the obligation to override the caller at any time when safeness issue arisen during the race (Lively Dragon Club & Wikipedia, 2010). This is some little understanding of the dragon boat from Wikipedia.

Have you eaten any dumpling yet this year? Duan Wu festival wouldn't be complete without it. Happy belated Duan Wu Festival!