Dragon Boat Race attracts many international teams including Nepal

Nepalese dragon boat team arrived at Jilong port on Thursday full of enthusiasm and hope as they are all set to participate in the No Plateau Dragon boat Friendship Race.

The two- day event is being held at Lulang Middle School Linzhi Nanjiabawa Plateau Sports Conference in Tibet from Sunday.

The Dragon Boat Race attracts many domestic and foreign teams to participate every year. The event is scheduled to be held in the waters of Zatang Lucuo. This is not only a sports carnival, but also a wonderful warm-up for the upcoming “Himalayas” International Cooperation Forum in Tibet, China, according to the South Asia Network TV, Tibet which has been covering it extensively.

The TV report said that the arrival of the Nepalese team triggered a small upsurge at the port. The People’s Government of Jilong County held a grand welcome ceremony on behalf of China and Tibet. According to Dan Zeng Peido, director of the Bureau of Culture and Tourism of Jilong County, in order to welcome Nepalese athletes, they carefully rehearsed two intangible cultural heritage dances of the Tibet Autonomous Region- “Tongjiala” and “Sale Harmony”.

These two dances originated from the celebration performance of the local people when Songtsengampo married the Nepalese Princess Chizun, and have been passed down for more than a thousand years.

In an interview with South Asia TV reporter, the captain of Nepal Dragon Boat said, “We are deeply honored to come to the charming Tibet to participate in the competition, and we are also eager to enhance our friendship with the Chinese team and other international teams through this competition.”

As one of the extremely important land trade ports between China and Nepal, Jilong Port has played  key role in promoting personnel exchanges, cultural exchanges and economic and trade cooperation between the two places in recent years. The smooth entry of the Nepal team is due to the deepening cooperation and exchanges between the two countries. When passing through the port, the team members expressed their sincere gratitude for the convenient customs clearance process and warm reception.

The Nepalese team participating in the dragon boat race is composed of experienced drifting connoistors and young and promising rookies. They hope that through this race, they will not only show Nepal’s outstanding talents in the field of water sports, but also enhance friendship and understanding with athletes from China and other countries.

This event is co-sponsored by the Sports Bureau of the Tibet Autonomous Region and the Linzhi Municipal People’s Government, undertaken by the Linzhi Education Bureau and the Lulang Scenic Area Management Committee, and co-sponsored by the Nepal Pokhara Overseas Chinese Association and the Pokhara Dragon Boat Association.

At the same time, it has received professional guidance from authoritative institutions such as the China Dragon Boat Association and the Chinese Embassy in Nepal. Jazz Ice, the head of the event organizing committee and a famous Chinese drifting explorer, said that the participation of the Nepalese team added a strong international color to the plateau sports conference, and also improved the competitive level and viewing value of the event.

They expect Nepalese athletes to play well in the competition, and also hope that this activity can further enhance the mutual understanding and friendship between the people of China and Nepal. It is reported that 8 strong dragon boat elite teams from Nepal, Singapore, Guangdong, Yunnan, Lhasa and Nyingchi will participate this year. They will compete together to perfectly show the deep integration of sports spirit and culture.