Every Dragon Boat Festival, millions of people from across the country including a large number of expats visit Diejiao, a small village in Guicheng, Nanhai District, Foshan, to watch dragon boat racing. Why is the race in this village so popular? The documentary film ‘Dragon Boat’ sets out to address this.

The dragon boat racing in Diejiao, Foshan in June, 2019. [Photo: Dai Jiaxin]

The film premiered at Guangzhou Library during the Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival (GZDOC) on the morning of December 10th, 2019.

Featuring a defending champion team and its biggest rival, the film tells the stories of the Diejiao locals and their dragon boats, and is a masterpiece in suspense from beginning to end, and keeps you on the edge of your seat as to who will be the winner of the 2018 Diejiao Dragon Boat Races.

The dragon boat racing in Diejiao, Foshan in June, 2019. [Photo: Dai Jiaxin]

After the screening, the production team noted that they hoped to capture the spirit and the strength of dragon boat race by telling these stories, the driving force of this documentary film.

Dragon boat racing in Diejiao dates back to the Ming Dynasty, over 500 years ago. Different from ordinary races, the dragon boat races in Diejiao take place on narrow, winding waterways. Because of this, the boat’s crew need to make one or more sudden turns during the races, any small mistake can lead the crew capsizing, so the races are breathtakingly exciting.

The release ceremony of Guicheng's three documentary films. [Photo provided to Newsgd.com]

If you are intrigued, you can watch this documentary film or better yet go to the village to watch the magnificent races next year.

The ‘Dragon Boat’ is one of the three documentary films featuring Guicheng’s culture. The other two are ‘Lin’s Hong Quan’ and ‘The Jade Masters in Pingzhou’, featuring the Chinese martial art Hong Quan and the jade industry in Guicheng respectively.

Author: Monica Liu

Editor: Simon Haywood