Kathmandu, 22th December: With the aim of promoting Nepal’s tourism, the Nepal-China friendly ‘Dragon boat Race’ competition is going to be held from 29th December. The second edition of the Dragon boat Race competition to be held in the tourist capital Pokhara will be conducted for two days.
It was informed at a press conference held here today that 20 teams, including 11 from Nepal, eight from China, and one from Singapore, will participate in the competition. The Dragon boat Race is being organized jointly by the Gandaki Province Government, Pokhara Metropolitan City, the Chinese Embassy in Nepal, and the Nepal Tourism Board, and co-organized by the Nepal Dragon boat Association, Pokhara Tourism Council, and the Pokhara Overseas Chinese Association.
The first-place team in both the 200- and 500-meter races will receive $5,000, the runner-up $2,000, and the third-place team $1,200. Similarly, the remaining 17 participating teams will receive $500 each, according to the organizers.
The second edition of Dragon boat will also be held in Fewa Lake. The competition was first organized in Nepal in 2023 under the leadership of the Chinese government. China has been organizing such competitions in 50 countries around the world. At the press conference, Wang Xin, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Chinese Embassy in Nepal, said that the competition is expected to establish cordial relations between the people of Nepal and China and promote tourism in Nepal.
He said, “The competition will be useful for cultural exchange between Nepal and China, as well as for developing Nepal’s tourism industry, promoting Nepal’s tourism sector and sports at the international level. China is always positive about promoting Nepal’s tourism.” Deepak Raj Joshi, the executive chief of the board, said that China is a major tourism market for Nepal and expressed confidence that the Dragon boat Race would help promote tourism in Pokhara. He said that the Dragon boat Race has added a new attraction to Pokhara’s tourism.
“We are excited because this is an attractive competition. We believe that such programs will play an important role in attracting tourists from Nepal’s second largest source market and promoting the destination,” said Executive Chief Joshi. “If the competition can be made stronger and more effective than in the past, relations with China will expand and further publicity will help promote tourism.”
This festival celebrated by the Chinese has been recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2009. The ‘Dragon Ball Festival’ is held in China on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar.
There is a tradition of celebrating this festival for three to seven days in various provinces of China. The Chinese government has been giving public holidays to celebrate this festival. In China, everyone from children to the elderly celebrate this festival with joy. The Dragon boat Festival, called ‘Duanwu Ji’ in Chinese, is one of the four major festivals of China. In China, the dragon is considered a positive force.
In 2019, 169,534 tourists from China visited Nepal and in 2023, 60,874 tourists. According to the Nepal Tourism Board, 92,848 Chinese tourists visited Nepal from January to November 2024. The organizers have stated that a delegation including Chinese athletes will fly to Pokhara by chartered flight to participate in the competition.
