Rich womens dragon boat team from wealthy Chinese village rows against male tide in unique
The origins of the team can be traced back to 2007 when the demolition of old housing began to make way for new construction in Zhujiang New Town.
As compensation, each household was reportedly granted a new property ranging in size up to 600 square metres (6,458 sq ft).
According to real-estate brokerage service company, Lianjia, average house prices in the area now range up to 200,000 yuan (US$28,000) per square metre.
In the lead up to the annual Dragon Boat Festival this month, excitement began to build about the female rowing team.
Before long, rumours and jokes about the team were spreading online: “Only rich women were allowed to join the team”, and “people should cheer on the rowers because they will reduce rents if they win” were among the comments circulating online.
A person in charge of publicity for the village, surnamed Chen, acknowledged that all members of the team owned properties that are now worth tens of millions of yuan, but stressed that being “good at swimming” was the only requirement to join the team.
Chen said the women from the village signed up for the team as a way of enhancing neighbourly bonds through teamwork.
One team member, surnamed Liang, told Jiupai News that she joined the team when it was established as the province’s first women’s dragon boat team in 1998.
Liang said she did so to fulfil her childhood dream of taking part in dragon boat racing, which until recently, only allowed men.
However, their boat is not designed like the traditional dragon boat used by men, it is a so-called “phoenix boat” specially designed for women.
In Chinese culture, the dragon is seen as a male symbol and the phoenix female.
In June last year, a woman in nearby Foshan, who appeared to have been a tourist, was cyberbullied after being scolded by a man for boarding a men’s dragon boat.
Some, including several folk culture experts, cling to long-held notions that have traditionally banned women from using dragon boats – attitudes with which Zhao Ting, who coaches a women’s dragon boat team in Guangdong, strongly disagrees.
“We no longer live in a time that prefers boys over girls. Why can’t women take part in dragon boat racing?” she asked.
The sport has a rich history in southern China, stretching back some 2,500 years. The wooden boats, shaped like dragons, can be powered by anywhere from a few dozen to more than 100 rowers.
The event is believed to originate from a custom of worshipping the dragon deity that dominates the waters of Earth and the heavens.
One belief has it that people raced in dragon boats as a symbolic rescue of the patriotic poet Qu Yuan, who drowned himself in a river in 278 BC.
Dragon boat racing is now popular in more than 60 countries, according to Sui Wenjie, associate professor at the Sports Institute of Huaqiao University.
A World Dragon Boat Racing Championships has been held every other year since 1995.
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