Dumplings and Dragons, corruption and suicide may sound like all the elements of an Oriental thriller but they are, in fact, the components of the ancient legend of Qu Yuan.  This is the basis of the spectacular Hong Kong Dragonboat Festival - International Races.

Qu Yuan was a minister in the Chinese Kingdom of Chu in the 4^th Century BC.  He was greatly loved by the people, but the King thought him foolish and had him expelled from his high position in the court. It is said that corrupt officials played a part in his expulsion. Unhappy and dejected, Qu Yuan wandered the countryside writing poetry about his love for the Country and its people. Later, unable to bear his sorrow, or perhaps as a final protest against the corrupt Government, Qu Yuan committed suicide by throwing himself into the Mi Lo River.

Legend has it that local fishermen raced out in their boats to try and save him, but failed. To prevent his body being eaten by fish they beat the waters furiously with their paddles and threw rice dumplings wrapped in silk into the River as a sacrifice to his spirit.

In Hong Kong today, the death of Qu Yuan is commemorated each year on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month by the Tuen Ng (Dragonboat) Festival. The ancient legend of local fishermen racing out to save Qu Yuan is re-enacted in the form of existing Dragonboat races. 

The formation of the DBRC (Dragon Boat Racing Club of Great Britain) in June 1985, was the first serious attempt to organise the sport on a national scale in the British Isles. With the three Hong Kong wooden boats imported for the London Festival in 1980, the DBRC raced fairly regularly during 1986/87and, with the support of the HKTA, built the first fibre-glass dragon boat in the country.In July 1987, following an initiative by the DBRC, these groups came together to form the British Dragon Boat Racing Association.The 1st National Championships were held in October 1987 on the Serpentine Lake in London's Hyde Park, where 19 crews contested the 500m races.  The decade finished on a high note for British Dragon Boating, when the GB Team won 15 medals in total at the 2000 World Championships in Nottingham - the cream of those being the Gold Medal won for the Premier Open 500 metres.

GB teams have maintained a very high standard, Team GB came away with 6 Golds and 7 Silver medals at the recent European Championships in Prague. Next year it's the world championships in Australia.