Pokhara: First ever Nepal-China Friendship Dragon Boat Race Festival begins in Pokhara, Nepal. This is also South Asia’s first dragon boat race festival. 4 teams from Nepal, 2 from China and 1 from Singapore will participate in the race. The festival will run for two days.
China-Nepal Friendship Dragon Boat Race Festival will be held in Pokhara from June 23rd to 24th. 8 teams from China, Nepal and Singapore will compete for the 200 meters and 500 meters championship. Nepal Tourism Board, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Nepal, and Pokhara City, have joined hands to organize this event.
This is the first Dragon Boat Race Festival to be organized in South Asia where 8 boats will be brought in from China. The event will have a mix of participants from China and all province from Nepal and receive required training before the race. Speaking at the ceremony, Pokhara Mayor Dhanraj Acharya, also the Patron of the event pointed out that such programs will add new dimension to Nepal’s overall tourism and add new products to the tourism of Pokhara and it will be organized every year. NTB CEO Dr. Regmi mentioned that the Boat Race Festival will help the tourism of Pokhara to be more sustainable. He also said that besides the tripartite cooperation; support from other tourism stakeholders will help in attracting more tourists to Pokhara. DCM Mr. Wang Xin of the Chinese Embassy acknowledged that Pokhara is a popular destination for Chinese tourists and that cultural and people-to-people relations between the two countries will be further strengthened through this program. He highlighted that this kind of program was organized for the first time in South Asia and it will be continued in the future. A food festival will also be organized during the event.