Off to the Dragon Boat Races

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Although Dragon Boat Festival was officially June 18 (which was very convenient for our anniversary) the races were on June 2 and 3, and we would have missed them had a thoughtful Chinese not informed us of the date. I guess the date is never quite set in stone and can quickly be moved and society adjusts. Being an organized, time-driven, calendar-driven person, I have found this cultural tendency to be more than a little annoying. The reason the date changed this year was that the original date conflicted with the GaoKao (the college entrance exam). Now, the GaoKao is an event in China. Every high school student takes the test, and the scores from the test determine if students can go to university, the quality of university they can attend, and the possible majors they can select. So, this test has more than a slight impact on millions of students' futures, and the country is vested in making them successful. There are are even public service announcements about the timing of the test reminding people to be quiet around schools during the test dates. It is also the GaoKao that marks the end of high school. There is no graduation ceremony -- just a test.

Anyway, our town hosts some annual dragon boat races and has some special pools set up for those races. Teams from around the province come and compete for two days amid various other activities (though all we really saw were the races).
 
There was a lot to see around the dragon boat pools, and, of course, more than a few cute kids. But we were definitely an attraction this year with a couple of professional-looking photographers sighting us in on several occasions. 
The races themselves were fun to watch more as a cultural experience than a sporting event -- though there is no question this was an athletic event. We just knew nothing about the rowers, the sponsors, or the general set up of the competition. The boats were amazing, though, and we thoroughly enjoyed watching the races. Most of these shots were during warm ups since the races took place on the far side of the pool.





It certainly was an event we would go to again, and spend more time at as well. Finally, here is a shot of one of the buildings around the pool. I am still struck by the beauty of the architecture here.



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