Dragon boat racing is thought to have originated about 2,500 years ago on the Yangtze River in China—at roughly the same time that the ancient Greeks had their Olympics. Even in these old times, dragon boat racing was a venerated sport that required full-time preparation on the part of the teams, and wins were considered to bring great prestige to teams’ home towns.

Modern dragon boat racing

Since ancient times, dragon boat racing has persisted more-or-less continuously, and it has hardly changed form. Now that it’s an internationally recognized sport with a single governing body overseeing it worldwide, the rules have become standardized with the sport’s widespread appeal in mind, but contemporary rules are still based on the ancient norms.

Modern dragon boat racing generally falls into one of a few categories. There are races with distances of 200 meters, 500 meters, one kilometer, or two kilometers. The first two are considered to be sprint events, with the paddlers going at top speed from beginning to end, while the latter two require the racers to pace themselves a little.

There are also a few long-distance versions of dragon boat racing. In China, for example, there is an annual event on the Yangtze that covers 100 kilometers, and there’s a similar marathon in Australia that goes 50 kilometers.

Dragon boat racing’s international presence

China is still the country in which dragon boat racing is most popular, with some 20 million people participating in the sport—and this number is growing rapidly. The sport has generally moved to other areas via Chinese immigrants, but there are many places where non-Chinese people have taken up the sport with great enthusiasm.

Due to its strong ties to Chinese culture, the Canadian city of Vancouver has had a strong dragon boat racing community for several decades. They have even hosted the world championships on multiple occasions, and they hold some of the biggest dragon boat events in the world. Via Vancouver, other major Canadian cities such as Ottawa and Toronto have begun hosting major racing events of their own.

Dragon boat racing has also gained popularity in Europe, Australia, and the U.S., especially in places where there are large Chinese immigrant communities. Several major cities on each of these continents host major dragon boat racing events. Some of the biggest events are in Sydney, Portland (Oregon, U.S.), Philadelphia, Kent (U.K.), and Malmo (Sweden).