Vessel for unity

Ready for anything

When Li Xing was studying at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore 18 years ago, she joined the school's dragon boat team.

"At first, it was just to get points for extracurricular activities," she said. "But after several years of training, I benefited not only physically but also mentally. I've developed greater perseverance and made some of my best friends through the team, who I still keep in touch with today."

Dragon boat racing has long been a popular activity in Singapore. Li took part in numerous races with her team every year — races among local universities as well as international competitions in Malaysia and Cambodia. She still remembers fondly the time in 2006, when both her university's men's and women's teams won the Prime Minister's Challenge Cup — one of the major races in the country — and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong himself presented the award to her and her team.

After 18 years of studying and working in Singapore, Li, 38, moved to Beijing in 2020 and now works as a math teacher at a bilingual primary school. Upon returning, she began to miss the thrill and excitement of dragon boat racing. So this year she joined the Beijing International Dragon Boat Team.

The diversity of teammates in terms of nationality, age and background makes the team quite different from the one Li was part of back at NTU. Some teammates are in their 20s and others are in their 60s. And Li can see that He Ming, the captain, tries to keep the training as professional and efficient as possible.

"We're not allowed to have casual conversations while in the water. Everything there has to be about the race. We're very much like a 'combat troop' ready to fight," Li joked.

Li thinks that having people from different cultural backgrounds participating in the same sport is a good way to promote Chinese tradition and history.

"It allows people from other parts of the world to better understand the tenacity and perseverance of Chinese people," she said.

Contact the writer at chenxue@i21st.cn