At 9 o'clock in the morning, with work songs echoing, dragon boats were rowed at Shiji Village of Haizhu District, like colorful dragons gliding on the Huangpuyong River.

As the Duanwu Festival (Dragon Boat Festival) is coming, Guangzhou citizens begin to visit their relatives and friends by dragon boats.

In the afternoon, nine dragon boats from residential communities in Huangpu District took part in a competition at Changzhou Island, with almost 40,000 people cheering them on from both river banks.

The Huangpu regatta was the first dragon boat race held by the government this year. Beginning next year, students from Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center will participated in the race, competing with other teams from Huangpu District.

Photo shows participants paddle boats during a run-up of the upcoming dragon boat race in Hong Kong. The grand dragon boat race will be held in several coastal areas in Hong Kong to celebrate the traditional Chinese Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on May 31 this year.  (cnsphoto)

Editor: Yan