The Jinji Lake International Dragon Boat Race was held in the Suzou Industrial Park on June 18. The race also marked the start of a series of “Shared Joy in Jiangsu” activities.
This year’s race had three categories and attracted 1,348 competitors in 66 teams, including 220 expats in 10 foreign teams from some 20 countries including Australia, the UK, France and Sweden. The foreign participants helped turn the traditional local activity into an international competition.
Noah from Switzerland, a freshman student at Suzhou-based Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, has been living in Suzhou for six years. It was her fifth time to join the dragon boat race and the Switzerland team won the 11th place.
A team started by senior managers from French-funded enterprises had 15 international competitors from various countries. Speaking different languages, they used English, Chinese and body language to communicate during training. And now they said that they have one thing in common -- they are all becoming ‘Suzhou natives’.
Launched in 2010, the annual Jinji Lake Dragon Boat Race has been held for eight consecutive years, making it a core part of demonstrating Suzhou’s city image and cultural glamour. Since 2010, Jiangsu Province has put efforts into building its brand through cultural exchanges with foreign countries, including the “Shared Joy in Jiangsu” program that aims to show the international community the charm of traditional Chinese culture and progress in the province.
（Source: english.jschina.com.cn)
