More than 1,300 to participate in the Suzhou Dragon Boat Race in June

The 2018 "Shared Joy in Jiangsu" Jinji Lake Dragon Boat Race will be held on June 18, and the participants have already started training for the race.

As Suzhou's most representative festival, the race has been held for eight consecutive years. On June 18, there will be 66 participating teams in three groups for 12-men 300-meter race, 12-women 300-meter race and 22-people 300-meter race respectively.

Tang Yong, staff of the race's organizing committee, said that this year's race has seen a record-high number of participants, totaling 1,348, among whom 220 are from other countries such as Australia, the UK, France, Switzerland, Sweden and Germany.

Shen Jinli, first-time participator to the race, said she didn't expect this sport to be so physically demanding, but after a morning's training her team members are getting more coordinated and their morale boosted.

This year's race will introduce more elements combined from the Eastern and the Western culture, such as decorating the dragon boats with arts and having Western food introduced at the race's creative market, Tang added.

                                                                                                                ----From Living Suzhou