HONG KONG, June 19 (Xinhua) -- "I enjoyed the Dragon Boat Festival very much and this is the tenth year for me participating the annual boat race," John Pache, a paddler from Royal X Men team said on the beach of Stanley, south coast of Hong Kong Island, as thousands of Hong Kong people gathering along the bay enjoying the Dragon Boat Festival Tuesday.

    Dragon Boat Festival, a traditional Chinese holiday (on May 5 according to Lunar Calendar) originated from the Warring States period, is said to be a day commemorating patriotic poet Qu Yuan, who drowned himself in a river to protest the corruptive government. In order to prevent his body from eaten by fish, villagers rowed boats and tossed rice dumplings into the river to feed the fish. And therefore boat races and rice dumplings become the features of the festival.

    Yet, the sad story of Qu Yuan is not that clearly remembered, instead the dragon boat races, rice dumplings and the happy festival spirit are the major elements when people think about Dragon Festival.

    The famous dragon boat races in Stanley started late 1960s has now developed into an international event involving about 140 teams each year, which attract individuals, clubs and companies as participants and thousands of locals and visitors as sightseers.

    According to the Stanley Boat Race organizer, the annual boat race this year has attracted over 200 teams and half of them are multinational with foreign racers who enjoyed traditional Chinese culture and dragon boating as much as local people.

    "I love dragon boating and rice dumplings. It is good for Hong Kong to organize a event like this every year and pass the tradition from generation to generation," said John about his impression on this Chinese holiday.

    And for Kathy, a paddler just finished the final competition with her team members, the whole race is just fun. "I just love it. Riding on a narrow, long boat under the beautiful sunshine, paddling with other girls and listening to the drums. We all have fun," said Kathy excitingly.

    Kathy is right. Every racer looks so happy after the race that it is hard for the audience to tell which team is the winner. Or perhaps, to win or lose is not important at all both for the racers and audience because the most important thing is they all have fun.