International dragon boat race to kick off in east China

NANJING, China, June 10 (Xinhua) -- An international dragon boat race will be held in the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou on this year's Dragon Boat Festival which falls on next Monday, local authorities said.

A total of 63 teams will participate in the annual dragon boat race on Suzhou's Jinji Lake, including eight teams made up of expatriates living in China.

All teams have undergone one month of training before the competition. "The sport requires excellent teamwork and all the rowers need to cooperate well with each other," said Andrea Keller, a rower of team Bainiangzi, which consists of 19 members from countries like Germany, Spain, and Sweden.

According to Keller, many foreign teams have recruited new members locally as a few former members have not returned to China due to the pandemic situation in their own countries.