Dragon Boat Races Attract over 55,000 People in Tianjin

A report from chinadaily.com.cn Jun. 15th, 2026：

Dragon boat teams compete in the race in Binhai New Area. 

More than 55,000 people watched two dragon boat races in Tianjin on Saturday, as the city aimed to promote mass sports, cultural tourism and community engagement across its coastal and riverside districts ahead of the Dragon Boat Festival.

In the coastal Binhai New Area, 29 teams with 640 athletes competed, while in the riverside Ninghe district, 17 teams raced on the Jiyun River.

As a 2,000-year-old tradition now recognized by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage, the Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, has been celebrated for more than two millennia.

Wang Yangyang, a member of the Binhai Blue Sky Rescue Team, which has participated since the first edition, said, "Every year I feel the team spirit growing stronger."

Jia Liguo, director of the Mass Sports Office of the Binhai New Area Education and Sports Bureau, said the district has been actively responding to the national "Healthy China" and "Fitness for All" strategies.

"Our goal is to bring sports into communities, enterprises and schools, achieving participation by the whole society," he said.