Over the weekend, we went to Mui Wo to see the dragon boat races. Walking from the ferry pier, we could hear the beating drums at 10 am, see all the teams stretching and strategizing, and hear the races being announced over the blaring pa system.
This is the second time that we've been to the Mui Wo dragon boat races…usually, we're in Shatin around this time of the year.
Fun Fact: The dragon boat races begin around the dragon boat festival (aka the Tueng Ng Festival), which takes place on the 5th month of the 5th day of the Chinese lunar calendar.
This year, the official start of the dragon boat festival is June 9th, but in Mui Wo…it started earlier!
Besides Mui Wo, other places that host dragon boat races:
1. Sai Kung
2. Shatin
3. Cheung Chau Island
4. Tai Po
5. Aberdeen
6. Stanley
7. Discover Bay and Tai on on Lantau Island
8. Tuen Mun
It's pretty nice to have so many places where you can view the dragon boat races. That means that the beaches don't get too crowded…imagine Mui Wo packed with people from inch to inch. That wouldn't make such an ideal race watching experience.
Takes me back to Cheung Chau during the Bun Festival (too crowded for my liking).
I am not a fan of the sardine living situations!
We only stayed a few hours, but the races were fun to watch. It was really nice watching the teams stretch and mentally prepare for their races.
Back in Seattle, I have some family who are really into dragon boat racing. They took it up mainly for exercise…and they would also see the dragon boaters practicing in Lake Union weekly. They invited my husband and I to do dragon boat racing one weekend, which was one of my favorite memories of the past few years.
That was such a great experience…I'd never really rowed with ten other people, but it really didn't WORK my shoulders as much as I thought it would…probably because we're all working as a team to move the boat forward. I remember that the mix of the cool Seattle summer and skimming the water on Lake Union was awesome.
A weekend well spent!
