by Ahmed Shafiq

CAIRO, June 15 (Xinhua) -- In the bright sunlight shining on the surface of the Nile on Monday, dozens of paddlers raced in the river in celebration of China's annual Dragon Boat Festival.

Organized by the Dragon Boat Egypt Academy, the event attracted paddlers from 14 countries and regions including China, Egypt, the United States, Canada, South Africa and the Philippines.

Overlooking the west bank of the river, Royal Mohamed Ali Club in Giza Province near Cairo was the main venue of the event and the finishing point of the race.

As the race started, paddlers rowed competitively in three dragon boats, while greeting the attendees with cheers and drums.

Originated from China more than 2,500 years ago, dragon boating is a fun but intense team-based paddling sport which has prevailed across the world, with thousands of Egyptian enthusiasts joining the sport in recent years.

China celebrated the Dragon Boat Festival on Monday this year to commemorate Qu Yuan, a patriotic poet in the Warring States Period between 475 and 221 B.C.

A dragon boat is generally long and narrow, with its prow carved as a dragon's head and the stern as a tail. Each boat can carry dozens of participants, including rowers, drummers and steerers.

"This is not the first time dragon boating ... I have done dragon boating in Egypt, in Qatar and in the United States," Senada Homs, an American living in Cairo, told Xinhua before the race started.

The lady said she practices dragon boating because she enjoys it, and it's a sport that can always bring people together.

In March, Egypt founded the Egyptian Dragon Boat Federation, which is expected to further strengthen ties between Egypt and China through sports.

Meanwhile, Ehab Gouda, co-founder of a dragon boat academy in Egypt, said that dragon boating is rapidly growing in Egypt, expressing the hope that Egypt would help spread this sport in neighboring countries and Africa.

Gouda, also head of the Egyptian Friendship Association in Hong Kong, contributed to bringing dragon boating to Egypt about five years ago.

Over the past years, Gouda, a member of the International Dragon Boat Federation, has organized various local and international dragon boat events in Egypt.

"We have so far organized eight international events and dozens of local races," Gouda said, adding that such events bring people together for better mutual understanding and cultural interaction.

Depicting the suicide of Qu Yuan, a young Egyptian man wearing Chinese outfit leaned forward and dived into the river, signalling the end of the dragon boat event. Enditem

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