Scenes from Hong Kong's Annual Dragon Boat Races
By wchung | 20 Jun, 2026

Upper Left and Right: Participants compete at the Dragon Boat races in Hong Kong Thursday, May 28, 2009 to mark the Dragon Boat Festival; Lower Left: Crowds gather on ships in Hong Kong Harbor to watch the Dragon Boat races; Above: Participants rest on the small boat after the competing in the Dragon Boat races. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Hong Kong’s annual Dragon Boat Festival commemorates Chinese poet-statesman Qu Yuan, who according to legend drowned himself in the Miluo River in central Hunana province some 2,000 years ago, to protest government corruption.

Dragon Boat racing has been a Chinese tradition for about 2,000 years. Today annual Dragon Boat races are held in many cities around the world, including Taipei, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Boston, San Francisco and even Miami.