Rhode Island Dragon Boat History
A dragon boat (also dragonboat)
is a human-powered boat (Paddled Water Craft)
traditionally made of teak wood to various designs
and sizes. It is one of a family of Traditional Long
Boats found throughout Asia, Africa and the Pacific
Islands. It is now used in the team paddling sport
of dragon boat racing which originated in China over
2000 years ago. While competition has taken place
annually for more than 20 centuries as part of folk
ritual, it emerged in modern times as an
international "sport" in Hong Kong in 1976. For
competition events, dragon boats are generally
rigged with decorative Chinese dragon heads and
tails.
The Blackstone Valley Tourism
Council began its dragon boat races in 2000 when the
Council used wooden dragon boats shipped from Hong
Kong and gifted by local businessman Louis Yip. In
2003, the Council received the gift of six
fiberglass dragon boats from the government of the
Republic of China (Taiwan) that are now being used in the RI
Dragon Boat and Taiwan Day Festival.
Rack Card:
Read Online |
Download PDF
