Celebrate Chinese culture at Dragon Boat Race

03 May 2017

The Confucius Institute at the University will host the 5th annual North West Dragon Boat Race in partnership with Helly Hansen Watersports Centre at Salford Quays

This popular event - on Sunday, 21 May - brings together a mixture of English and Chinese participants from six Confucius Institutes from other North West universities and will be a wonderful opportunity to experience Chinese culture with a healthy dose of competition!

The day will kick off at 10.30am with an opening ceremony featuring the Salford Mayor, Paul Dennet, representatives from the consulate general of the People's Republic of China and The University of Manchester. The six teams will then compete in four races against each other throughout the day before a winner is crowned with a closing ceremony. 

The whole day is open to the public and spectators will be able to enjoy the excitement of the races. 

The Dragon Boat Race festival is a public holiday in China and is an opportunity for family and friends to come together to eat rice dumplings, drink traditional wine and of course, race dragon boats!  Dragon boats are designed to resemble the classic dragon that had the head of an ox, antler of a deer, mane of a horse, body of a python, claws of a hawk, and fins and tail of a fish, so the bow is crafted as the head of a dragon with the stern the tail, the hull painted with scales and the paddles symbolically representing the claws. 

The Manchester Dragon Boat team is comprised of Confucius Institute staff, students and staff from across the University. It is a great chance to meet colleagues as well as teams from other North West institutions.