The nationwide dragon boat invitational tournament of the 2017 Guangxi Huanjiang Maonan Fenlong Festival & Third World Natural Cultural Tourism Festival got underway on May 29.

The two-day competition saw a total of 48 teams, from Guizhou, Hunan and Jiangxi provinces and Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, compete for the championships in 200 meter and 400 meter races.

As the most important festival in Huanjiang, the Fenlong Festival was held together with the first Karst Cultural Tourism Festival in 2015, an event celebrating the karst landscape of Huanjiang and the ethnic culture of the Maonan people.

This year, the festival will be integrated with the third World Natural Heritage Cultural Tourism Festival to better promote the "leapfrog" development of Huanjiang's tourism industry.

The Fenlong Festival, also known as the Temple Festival, is held every year and lasts for two to three days. It is the most important festival for the Maonan people. The festival celebrates the ancient story of a dragon flying down from heaven and supplying water to the local farmers, helping them to yield bumper harvests.

Two dragon boats in an intense battle compete at the nationwide dragon boat invitational tournament of the 2017 Guangxi Huanjiang Maonan Fenlong Festival & Third World Natural Cultural Tourism Festival on May 29. [Photo by Gao Dongfeng/xinhuanet]

Dragon boats compete four abreast at the invitational tournament. [Photo by Wei Xiuling/xinhuanet]