China comes to NY with dragon boat festival

Source: Agencies  |   2008-8-4  |     ONLINE EDITION

BEIJING has the 2008 summer Olympics, but New York has the dragon boat festival.

The 18th annual event, steeped in Chinese traditions and flavors, concluded yesterday, with about 90 teams competing, mostly for glory.

As in recent years, the two-day regatta at Queens' Flushing Meadow Lake, site of the 1939 World's Fair, drew thousands of people to munch on dumplings, fly kites, listen to bands and watch the boats, which are outfitted to look like dragons and are about 12 meters long.

Each boat has a drummer at the prow and a person steering at the stern. The drummer beats a rhythm for rowers in the same way a coxswain drives a racing shell, over races of 250 or 500 meters against other boats.

The boats, crewed by 12-member teams, boasted names such as Wall Street Dragons, Boston Fusion or simply Goldman Sachs. The top prize, for the final round's fastest boat, Montreal Mix, was US$1,500 and a trophy.

While Sunday's crowd was largely Asian, the festival "reflects the diversity of Queens," said Wallace Wang, who was serving his ninth year as a volunteer staff member, handling team registration.

"It's kind of a multicultural event, which I see as a way to build community," said Wang. "It brings together people who would not otherwise know each other."

Henry Wan, a Queens real estate developer and chairman for all of the festival's 18 years, said it began as a one-time event, sponsored by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, but proved a surprise success.

The dragon boat tradition stems from the legend of Qu Yuan, a third-century BC poet who was forced into exile for opposing the king of Chu and ultimately drowned himself in a protest. Fishermen raced to his aid in their boats but could not save him, so they splashed their oars to chase off evil spirits and threw rice dumplings into the river to honor his heroism.