STORY: Dragon boat race ushers in Uganda-China tourism season in Uganda
SHOOTING TIME: June 9, 2024
DATELINE: June 11, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:48
LOCATION: ENTEBBE, Uganda
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the dragon boat race 
2. various of award ceremony
3. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): FAN XUECHENG, Charge d'affaires ad interim of the Chinese Embassy in Uganda
4. various of the race 
5. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): MARTIN BAHINDUKA, Ugandan Minister of State for Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities
6. various of audiences at the event
7. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): RODNEY BABAL, Ugandan paddler

STORYLINE:

The government of Uganda and the Chinese Embassy in the Eastern African country have jointly launched a tourism season between the two countries, with a dragon boat race held ahead of the traditional Chinese Dragon Boat Festival.
   
Chinese companies in Uganda dispatched their best paddlers, both Chinese and Ugandan, to compete in the race, which also attracted participants from local communities, near the shore of Lake Victoria in central Uganda, Sunday.
   
Vibrant sounds filled the air as supporters cheered for their teams, in an event that analysts say is a show of growing Uganda-China ties in diplomacy, economy and culture.
  
Fan Xuecheng, charge d'affaires ad interim of the Chinese Embassy in Uganda, said the Dragon Boat Festival is a key tradition that brings Chinese people together, and hosting dragon boat races will consolidate the public foundation for China-Uganda friendly cooperation and further promote the cultural exchanges between the two countries.
   
"Although China and Uganda have different traditions, we have the same concept to integrate the history, culture and modern civilization into tourism development," he said.
   
As tourism has become an important channel for exchange and mutual learning among civilizations, Fan said, the Chinese Embassy is working with the Ugandan government to promote Uganda as a destination for Chinese tourists.
   
SOUNDBITE 1 (English): FAN XUECHENG, Charge d'affaires ad interim of the Chinese Embassy in Uganda
"This year we are celebrating the 62nd anniversary of our diplomatic relations, and now we are cooperating with the ministry of tourism to promote more Chinese tourists to come to Uganda. So today we are organizing the dragon boat festival, the races. This is a traditional festival in China. So we want to take this opportunity to promote Uganda in China, to make Uganda more popular in China."

"Every year, 130 million Chinese tourists go abroad. We hope we can bring more Chinese tourists to Uganda to explore its beauty," Fan said, adding that a tourism seminar will be convened later this year to promote Uganda in China.
   
Ugandan Minister of State for Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities Martin Bahinduka, was the chief guest. He urged Ugandans to learn from the Chinese who attach great importance to their culture, noting Uganda's abundance of cultural heritages that should be cherished.
   
The minister said this year's Dragon Boat Festival is a springboard to promote Uganda to Chinese tourists.

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): MARTIN BAHINDUKA, Ugandan Minister of State for Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities
"This is a very big market from which we can tap and get some of that foreign currency to come into Uganda. The numbers currently are small. We just have around 9,000 Chinese coming to Uganda annually as of the end of 2023. We believe we can grow this number to maybe 20,000 or 15,000 and most of them don't come for tourism, they come for the business part of it."

Rodney Babala, one of the Ugandan paddlers, said after the race that his team, with both Chinese and Ugandan nationals, had practiced together for a month to prepare for the event.
   
He said China has played a great role in the development of Uganda, in sectors ranging from infrastructure development, and trade, to health and tourism.
   
SOUNDBITE 3 (English): RODNEY BABAL, Ugandan paddler
"This partnership of China and Uganda is really good, Because when you try to see, they have been a very good foundation to our economy and partnership. When you try to look, it's everywhere you can see Chinese, be it construction, be it business."

The Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on Monday, June 10 this year, is commemorated on the fifth day of the fifth month on the Chinese lunar calendar.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Entebbe, Uganda.
(XHTV)