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Source: Xinhua

China Dragon Boat Tournament 2012 kicks off in Hainan

WANNING, South China, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- China Dragon Boat Tournament 2012 kicked off on Wednesday in Wanning city of South China's Hainan Province.

A total of 12 men's and four women's teams from different provinces in China, such as Hainan, Guangdong, Sichuan, Fujian, Jilin and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, competed for the total prize of RMB 400,000.

Wednesday witnessed the preliminary rounds of men's 200m and 500m races. After a fierce competition, eight men's teams advanced to the semifinal to be held on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the first round of women's 200m and 500m was held and four women's teams will choose the race one by one during the final on Thursday according to their performance on Wednesday.

Liu Musong, the judge of the tournament, said that the key to winning the race was that rowers needed to work together and make the force in the same direction spontaneously and they should also listen to the command from the drummer, at the same time, the helmsman needed to have a good control of the direction that the boat goes.

He said that the purpose of the Dragon Boat Tournament was to carry out the traditional Chinese Dragon Boat culture and encourage more people to participate in the traditional sports.

The tournament this year will witness 10 stops in China, and Wanning is the first stop. Other stops will be held in Yunnan, Sichuan, Fujian Province and others.

Originated from China and has been widely spread in the world, the sport of dragon boat has risen in recent years in such countries as the Netherlands, the United States, Russia and Australia, and has been officially listed as the formal competition event in Guangzhou Asian Games in 2010.