1、Phuket International Dragon Boat Festival,Internatioal Dragon Boat Festival,Phuket Bangkok Chiangmai,International Dragon Boat Festival,Phuket Dragon Boat Festival is a young festival. It only brought from China not more than two years.,The Dragon Boat Race - A Very Special Chinese Tradition,The Dra

2、gon Boat - history and culture,History of Dragon boat,There are many stories regarding its origin, the most popular and widely accepted version is about the great statesman, pholosopher and poet, Qu Yuan.,Officially on falling on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, the Dragon Boat Festival is al

3、so known as Double Fifth Day.,He drowned on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month in 277 B.C.,Qu Yuan is said to have waded into the Miluo river in todays Hunan Province holding a great rock in order to commit ritual suicide as a form of protest against the corruption of the era.,However, in order

4、to keep fish and evil spirits away from his body, they beat drums and splashed the water with their paddles, and they also threw rice into the water both as a food offering to Qu Yuans spirit and also to distract the fish away from his body. This later on turned into the custom.,The Dragon Boat Fest

5、ival is celebrated by boat races in the shape of dragons. Competing teams row their boats forward to a drumbeat racing to reach the finish end first.,Phuket Dragon Boats is a partnership between Mike Downard and Bill Handley, both keen and experienced water sportsmen.,Bill is one of Britains most ex

6、perienced Dragon boaters and has been the leading light in London for almost 20 years.(Left) Mike is Bills on water safety specialist, and is principally a yachtsman with an interest in dragon boats. He is the admin side of the operation in Phuket Thailand.(Right),Entry forms for the Phuket International Dragon Boat Festival November 2012 will be made available from