Australian dragon boat teams learn from Nantong counterparts

Dragon boat team members from Australia pose for a group photo in Nantong. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

Two dragon boat teams from Australia concluded a two-day visit to Nantong in East China's Jiangsu province on Sept 13, local media reported.

The 24 Australian dragon boat racers visited Nantong after they attended a dragon boat invitational competition in Shanghai. Most of the foreign visitors are Maori and boats similar to Chinese dragon boats prevail in their homeland, which explains why they are interested in dragon boat racing.

Australian dragon boat racers have a friendly match with dragon boat enthusiasts in Nantong. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

"I feel delighted to come to beautiful Nantong again; my last visit was the Mid-Autumn Festival," said the coach of the Brisbane Typhoon team. "I still keep the team uniform that I exchanged with a Nantong dragon boat racer."

During their stay in the city, they visited the Nantong Museum and the former residence of Zhang Jian (1853-1926), a renowned industrial magnate, educator, and scholar born in Nantong, and had a friendly competition with local dragon boat enthusiasts.

In recent years, the dragon boat teams in Nantong have participated in multiple competitions on behalf of Jiangsu and China. The city's dragon boat racers won one silver medal and two bronze medals at the National Games last year and bagged three silver medals at the World Dragon Boat Championships this year.