STORY: Dragon boat-making tradition passed on in E China's village
DATELINE: June 23, 2023
LENGTH: 0:01:55
LOCATION: FUZHOU, China
CATEGORY: CULTURE

SHOTLIST:
1 various of villagers making dragon boats
2 various of dragon boat race
3 SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): FANG SHAOHUANG, Inheritor of dragon boat making technique in Fangzhuang Village
4 SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): FANG JIANWEI, Inheritor of dragon boat making technique in Fangzhuang Village

STORYLINE:

Fangzhuang Village in Fuzhou, east China's Fujian Province is famed for the tradition of dragon boat-making technique.

Each year, over 200 dragon boats are sold from here to various parts of China and overseas markets.

Villagers are busy making boats to meet the rising demand during the Dragon Boat Festival.

The dragon boat race is one of the major celebrations during the festival, which falls on Thursday this year.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): FANG SHAOHUANG, Inheritor of dragon boat making technique in Fangzhuang Village
"The tradition of shipbuilding in Fangzhuang Village dates back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Back then, the ship was called 'Fu boat.' In the middle of Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the dragon boat race became popular in Fuzhou. Our ancestors gave full play to their talent in making 'Fu boat,' and invented the Fuzhou-style dragon boat. The special technique passed on from generations to generations should not disappear now, so I encouraged my niece to inherit it."

SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): FANG JIANWEI, Inheritor of dragon boat making technique in Fangzhuang Village
"When seeing the purchaser pull back the boat for racing and send us a banner for gratitude after winning the game, I would feel it's worthwhile to stick to the dragon boat-making tradition. So I have kept doing this. I hope to establish a dragon boat base in Fangzhuang Village, combining the cultural tourism with the inheritance of traditional dragon boat-making technique, to create a new name card for our village."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Fuzhou, China.
(XHTV)