As the Dragon Boat Festival approaches, southern Chinese provinces held dragon boat races to celebrate cultural inheritance and develop people-to-people bonds, attracting participants from across the country and overseas.

The Dragon Boat Festival is one of the major Chinese annual holidays for family gatherings and honoring history, usually in early June.
On Saturday, a lively dragon boat race occurred in the Sanban River of Zhuhai City, south China's Guangdong Province, with 14 teams competing in the spirited event.
This year's races saw a unique addition: the participation of returned overseas Chinese. Now residents of Zhuhai, many of these returnees have become actively involved in community life. For them, the race was not only a custom of the traditional festival but also a powerful symbol of solidarity and shared determination to "row together in the same boat" for prosperous lives and a brighter future.
On the same morning, the city of Xiamen in east China's Fujian Province hosted a Cross-Strait Dragon Boat Race featuring 36 teams from both the Chinese mainland and the Taiwan region. The event, combining intense competition with cross-regional camaraderie, brought together athletes and audience across the Strait to jointly celebrate the upcoming festival.
In addition to the races, a Dragon Boat Festival-themed market was set up in Xiamen's Nandi Park, where visitors could enjoy traditional delicacies and learn more about the history and culture.
In Jiujiang City of east China's Jiangxi Province, a large-scale dragon boat competition was held from Saturday to Sunday, gathering 40 teams across provinces along the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Taking the chance, the event served as a platform to connect cities along the Yangtze River and promote traditional culture and folk customs from across China.
"Though the festival is still a few days away, we can already feel the festive spirit. We hope that through the dragon boat race, we can continue to foster and celebrate the rich cultural traditions of the historical festival," said Hu Junliang, a local audience member.