And four of the more than 200 local and international teams, from 12 countries and regions are Canadian dragon boat racing teams from the province of British Columbia.
The newly launched Hong Kong Dragon Boat Carnival is one of the three Mega Events earmarked by the Hong Kong SAR Government from now until mid-2011, one of the highlights of the Hong Kong Tourism Board’s (HKTB) annual Summer Spectacular.
The other two Mega Events are the Hong Kong Tennis Classic 2011 World Team Challenge, which will be held January 2011, and Hong Kong’s first ever international women’s golf event, The Hong Kong Women’s Open, from late April to early May, 2011.
Canadian Teams from False Creek :
More than 60 paddlers of four Canadian teams, sponsored by the HSBC Bank Canada and the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office (HKETO) in Toronto, are all from the False Creek Racing Canoe Club, in Vancouver, B.C.
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False Creek Racing Canoe Club Team in Action
The False Creek Racing Canoe Club is one of the best known breeding grounds of Canadian paddlers. The club’s dragon boat teams have competed in many international events and have won the Hong Kong Championships for five times in previous years. 
False Creek Racing Canoe Club Team Photo
These teams will join three categories of races including Mixed, Open, and Women’s International Championship in the first ever Carnival.
Ms Maureen Siu, Director of the HKETO, described Hong Kong as the birthplace of modern dragon boat racing.
“Dragon boating in Canada began at the World Expo in Vancouver in 1986, when the city was given six dragon boats by Hong Kong,” said Ms Siu. “Now dragon boating has become a popular sporting activity in major cities across Canada, and evolved beyond festivals to include community, charity and sport racing in many combinations.”
“Having four high-calibre Canadian teams joining this event could further promote the Hong Kong-Canada relations,” she added.
Jointly organized by the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Association and the HKTB, the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Carnival will be held along the East Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade this year. The Victoria Harbour will be in carnival form, with fun and many cultural entertainment programs.
Michael Lim, HKTB’s Director of Canada, Central and South America, said,
“The carnival celebrates our traditional Chinese culture with modern elements by enlarging the scale of the Hong Kong international Dragon Boat Races while instilling new programs of different nature to attract even greater participation of visitors and local residents.”For anyone lucky enough to be traveling to Hong Kong this week, this is one more wonderful event in this fabulous city! Wish I were there!
For more information, see Hong Kong festival site
Photos this page/ post courtesy of Hong Kong Tourism Board.
For pictures of Hong Kong, Tsim Sha Tsui, see my website Hong Kong section.
Update June 2, 2011
The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) and the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Association (HKDBA) are organizing the annual Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Races (June 17 - 19, 2011) and Canadian teams will be there!
Expo 86 in Vancouver BC was the start of Dragon boating in Canada, when Hong Kong gave the city six dragon boats. Sponsored by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, eight Canadian teams, and about 150 paddlers from the False Creek Racing Canoe Club (FCRCC) will take part
The four top teams are the FCRCC Premier Men, Premier Women, Starbucks Waverunners Komodo Dragon and Creakside Masters. The remaining four teams are known as recreational paddlers: Lifescan, Riptide, Dragon Hearts Beat and Starbucks Waverunners Sumatra.
Some groups are experienced international award-winning teams, while for others the Hong Kong competition will be their first on the international circuit. All of Canada wishes our False Creek Racing Canoe Club dragon boat teams good luck!
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