The Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Races are being held on 27 and 28 June this year, marking the 50th anniversary of the event. While these boat races make a very big splash these days, the first instalment in 1976 was a modest affair: just ten teams took part – nine crews of Hong Kong fishermen, plus a team from Nagasaki.
Still, that inaugural event, held at the Shau Kei Wan Typhoon Shelter, is recognised as the beginning of the modern era of dragon boating as a sport. And despite the low-key start, it quickly expanded. In 1978, the venue moved to Tsim Sha Tsui East Waterfront, ensuring more tourist eyeballs, and more attention.
The races in Hong Kong served as the unofficial world championship for the sport until the founding of the International Dragon Boat Federation in 1991. There are now three federations governing dragon boating around the world.
For an idea of how big the event has become, in 2025, the races in Hong Kong involved 4,500 athletes from 190 teams and 12 different countries!
Dragon boat trivia
- Dragon boats were traditionally made from teak; today they’re usually constructed with fibreglass for better water resistance. Competitive boats follow strict international specifications (paddles must be “based geometrically on an equilateral triangle positioned between the blade face and the neck of the shaft”).
- Despite this, traditional elements remain, including a decorative dragon head on the front, a stylised tail at the stern, and scales painted along the sides. Regular dragon boat teams consist of 20 paddlers, plus a drummer and a steerer (or sweep or helm).
- Dragon boats are typically 12 metres long, though the Guinness World Record for the longest one (set in Hunan in 2024) is 100 metres, with room for 420 paddlers! The longest journey by a dragon boat crew was a three-day, 596km effort achieved by a USA team in July 2025.
The significance of the day
The international races conclude celebrations around the Dragon Boat Festival, held annually on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month in various parts of the world. The “Double Fifth”, as it’s sometimes known, is a national holiday across China. This year it falls on 19 June.
One story of the festival’s origins surrounds Qu Yuan, who, in the 3rd century BC, was falsely accused of conspiracy and then exiled. When he later threw himself into a river attached to a heavy stone, people scrambled into boats and tried to rescue him, banging on drums and throwing zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) to distract river monsters from nibbling on him!
Find out more about this year’s festival at bit.ly/dragonboat2026.
This piece on the International Hong Kong Dragon Boat Races first appeared in the Summer 2026 issue of Expat Living. Subscribe to the magazine now so you never miss an issue!
