For the fourth consecutive year, the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Berlin (HKETO Berlin) has supported the annual Berlin City Cup dragon boat races. July 1 marked the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and at the same time the 20th anniversary of the Berlin City Cup.

     The races were held on July 1 and 2 (Berlin time) at the Olympic Regatta Course in Berlin-Grünau, with more than 70 teams participating. At the award ceremony on July 1, the Deputy Director of HKETO Berlin, Ms Alison Lo, presented trophies to the winning teams. The Office also hosted a booth to promote Hong Kong to visitors and athletes.

     Dragon boat racing has its origin in China and dates back more than 2 200 years. It commemorates the death of the poet Qu Yuan, who took his life in the Miluo River because of grievances in the country. When local villagers learned of his death, they took their boats out to the river, hit the water with their paddles and beat drums to keep the corpse safe from fish. Some say that this is the origin of dragon boat racing and the Dragon Boat Festival, which is a public holiday in Hong Kong.

     In Berlin, sports fans and families enjoyed the annual dragon boat-themed tug of war as well as culinary and musical highlights alongside the thrilling competition on the water.

     To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the HKSAR, HKETO Berlin is currently staging an exhibition in Berlin together with Aedes Architecture Forum on the West Kowloon Cultural District, which will run until August 31. In the second half of July, a series of Hong Kong films will be screened in Arsenal Cinema. Earlier, on June 22, Tang Shu-wing Theatre Studio performed a new Cantonese version of Shakespeare’s Macbeth in Berlin’s famous Admiralspalast. And on June 27, HKETO Berlin hosted a gala dinner in Berlin featuring special Hong Kong cuisine prepared by culinary masters and their students from Hong Kong.
 
About HKETO Berlin
 
     HKETO Berlin is the official HKSAR Government representative in commercial relations and other economic and trade matters in Germany as well as Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Switzerland.

Ends/Monday, July 3, 2017
Issued at HKT 19:44

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