STORY: Cape Town celebrates Chinese Dragon Boat Festival with thrilling races
SHOOTING TIME: June 8, 2024
DATELINE: June 10, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:51
LOCATION: Cape Town
CATEGORY: CULTURE

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the venue, training and audience at the dragon boat race in Cape Town
2. various of competitions
3. various of drums, lion dances and medal ceremony at the dragon boat race in Cape Town
4. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): DONG GANG, Leader of the Chinese community in Cape Town
5. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): IGSAAN SALIE, Chairperson of the Cape Town Dragon Boat Association
6. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): PAM NEWBY, Member of the Cape Town Dragon Boat Association
7. SOUNDBITE 4 (English): DAVINA MEYER, Member of the winner team

STORYLINE:

The Chinese Dragon Boat Festival was celebrated with a competitive and inclusive dragon boat race on Saturday in Cape Town, making a splash in South Africa's legislative capital.

Also known as Duanwu, the festival is a traditional Chinese holiday observed on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar, which falls on June 10 this year.

This year's dragon boat race was the second event of its kind held in Cape Town, with the participation of 10 teams.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): DONG GANG, Leader of the Chinese community in Cape Town
"Dragon boat racing, as one of the most traditional cultural sports, originated in China. Therefore, as overseas Chinese, we are very happy to see it being inherited and developed abroad."

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): IGSAAN SALIE, Chairperson of the Cape Town Dragon Boat Association
"The one thing that I've enjoyed and what I've always shared with a lot of families that join is that if you look at any dragon boat, you see 20 people facing the same direction, working towards the united goal. And I think that resonates well with South Africans. And it's a great team sport, and it's an opportunity for us to really enjoy the wonders and steams of the natural things in Cape Town. What we really see is a passion, a love for the sport and a competitive spirit that doesn't seem to waver."

SOUNDBITE 3 (English): PAM NEWBY, Member of the Cape Town Dragon Boat Association
"The wonderful thing about this sport is it breaks away all sorts of boundaries, racial, sexual, whether you're working or not working, students or a company director, you're all in the same boat, all working together. And the importance is, are you pulling together as a team, are you working for your team?"

SOUNDBITE 4 (English): DAVINA MEYER, Member of the winner team
"The dragon boat itself is such a great team sport. We sit together, we are one team in a boat, we are all the same person, we are one person and that is great. And I think that is what we take from the Chinese culture."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Cape Town.
(XHTV)