Wellington Tianjin Wins 3 First Places in the Dragon Boat Race

The Dragon Boat Festival was rescheduled this year due to the COVID restrictions. However, many expatriate teams hoped the event would still go ahead. They continued to train and prepare ready and waiting for the news.

The good news came in mid-June and last weekend teams from Tianjin and across China competed together. For the Foreign Enterprise Sports Day committee, the Dragon Boat Race is one of its important items on the calendar.

And what a weekend it was for the Wellington dragon boat teams with 3 first place wins on the day to take 1st place in all competitions; The men's 200 meters, women’s 200 meters and the mixed 200 meters race. This was a clean sweep and the hard work and training certainly paid off for the Wellington teams. 

“Having trained extremely hard during the weeks running up to the event, we were not sure if we could compete against the other teams,” explained team captain, Cliff Iddison. “The teams were focused right from the start and turned out every weekend to train, it was amazing to see such camaraderie and team spirit,” he said.

Hard training under the burning sun

Mr Jeffrey, the Executive Master of Wellington College Tianjin, explained, “It was a very exciting event. The staff of the College and their families have all enjoyed it over the years. We also get to know more about Chinese culture and feel the passion for the city. The Dragon Boat Festival is one of the most important traditional Chinese festivals.”

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Eating Zongzi and dragon boat racing are two of the main activities of the Dragon Boat Festival. In 2011, dragon boat racing was listed in the third batch of the Intangible Cultural Heritage aspects of China. “The Dragon Boat Racing in 2021 attracted 12 international teams in Tianjin. With members from 23 countries, including Germany, Italy and Mexico. This year, the members of the international teams are from more than 30 countries, which shows the influence of Chinese culture.” Mr Zhang said.

Source: www.Chinanews.com

According to the result of the seventh National Population Census released by China's National Bureau of Statistics, there are 845,697 foreigners living in China's mainland and registered by the census. Some of them went to school, worked, or started their businesses in China; some of them started their family and settled here. Eelco and Gian from Wellington College Tianjin are among them.

What attracts them to stay in China was not only the convenience of living and the friendly people but also the inclusive atmosphere of the city and the splendid culture of thousands of years. Gian told us that many staff and students are more interested in the Chinese traditional culture because of the dragon boat race. During the last few years, the Science Department of the school arranged lessons about the Four Great Inventions of ancient China, famous Chinese science and the ecology and evolution of the zodiac animals. The students learned more about Chinese culture along with scientific knowledge.

Biology Class of Gian

The influence of Chinese culture on expatriates is reflected in all aspects of their lives, and as their integration continues to deepen, many expatriates have become involved in Chinese charitable causes.

Eelco and Julian Jeffrey have held charitable events to raise money for children in need of help and other charitable organizations. During those events, one stands out to them when they walked for more than 100 kilometres from Wuqing to Beijing and raised 70,000 RMB. Talking about the planning for the route of their walk, Eelco said, “I know Tianjin too well. When I’m retired, I can be a taxi driver.”

Charity Walk

100km from Wuqing to Beijing

Raised more than 40,000 RMB to support children in Gansu

As the old saying goes, “wherever my heart settles is my home.”

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