By DANI SAFFORD

PAWTUCKET — Chinese Dragon Boats hail from an ancient legend of a poet named Ch’u Yaun who was exiled from his kingdom and consequently threw himself into the Mi Lo River. According to legend, when people heard of his death, they grieved for him and attempted to scare fish and water dragons away from him by rowing around the river in fishing boats, splashing oars and beating drums.

Today, Dragon Boat racing has become a modern sport, but its roots lie within Chinese culture and folklore where the boats originated.
To witness this estimated 2,000 year old Chinese custom, a trip to the provinces of China isn’t necessary — just to School Street Pier on Tim Healey Way.
“There are only three Dragon Boat races in North America — Boston, this one and San Francisco,” said Emily Soergeo, Keep Blackstone Valley Beautiful Program Coordinator. “It’s pretty cool.”
Despite threatening rains from Tropical Storm Hanna, the rain-or-shine Ninth Annual Dragon Boat Race and Taiwan Day Festival was held on the grounds of the School Street Pier on Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sponsored by the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council and the Chinese Christian Church, the Dragon boat Race and Tawian Cultural Festival is another installment of the Pawtucket Arts Festival, which began unofficially on July 13 and runs until Sept. 21.
“The Tourism Council in conjunction with the Chinese Christian Church started this,” said Soergeo. “The event was actually started as its own event. It wasn’t part of the Pawtucket Arts Festival but we have it in the same weekend and now it’s one of the events.”
The Dragon Boat Racing and the Taiwan Day Festival were implemented years ago to celebrate the Chinese heritage in Pawtucket and to bring Chinese culture to the community.
“There’s a pretty big Chinese population in Pawtucket,” Soergeo says.
Shortly after the Dragon Boat racing was introduced in Pawtucket, Chinese foods and music were added to create the Taiwan Day Festival. At this year’s event entertainment included the first North American Chinese Dumpling Eating Contests, performances by Chai Found Music, vendors offering Taiwanese art and numerous food vendors.
“The Chinese Christian church is here giving out Chinese food and we also have a Bubble Tea person. Bubble Tea is kind of like a fruit smoothie with tapioca at the bottom and you drink it through big straws,” Soergeo said of the Taiwanese drink that originated in the 1980’s.
The races are an intense battle to beat the clock, with sixteen paddlers to a boat plus a steersperson, drummer and a flag-catcher. Featuring team names such as Rapid River Rats, Flying Dragons, Wellness Warriors and Big Perm, Dragon Boat competitors pay a fee to join the competition and begin practicing in mid-June.
“Each boat pays and the teams are mostly businesses,” said Soergeo. “All the teams do two [races] each and are judged by best time out of the two and the top six will compete for the final prizes.”
Though the weather kept some away this year, the Dragon Boat Race and Taiwan Day Festival generally draw in as many as 20,000 spectators, organizers say.
For more information about the Dragon Boat Races and Taiwan Day Festival, visit www.dragonboatri.com. For more information on the Pawtucket Arts Festival or to learn about upcoming events in the series, visit www.pawtucketartsfestival.org.