Text/Yangcheng Evening News all-media reporter Yan Min
Photo, video / Yangcheng Evening News all-media reporter Song Jinyu
On the second of February, the dragon looks up! Next to Shangjiao chung in Guangzhou, the "successor" of a century-old dragon boat is being conceived. On the morning of March 4, accompanied by the lively sound of firecrackers, the "Dongpo" of the newly built dragon boat in Chebei Village, Tianhe District, started construction in the shipyard, officially entering a period of more than 20 days of intensive production.
Su Jinzi, the elder of the Qingchuan Sugong Ancestral Hall in Chebei Village, introduced that Dongpo is a century-old dragon with a history of 153 years, and was named in honor of Dongpo Gong. Due to the long time and frequent use, the dragon boat part of the Dongpo has been deformed and corrupted, and it has also undergone many maintenance and repairs. For safety reasons, they decided to build a new dragon boat, which would be twice as thick as a normal ship. At that time, the new dragon boat will inherit the tradition and be also named "Dongpo".
"The atmosphere of dragon boats in the village is strong, at least seventy or eighty dragon boats," Su Jinzi told reporters, and he began to pick up dragon boats at the age of eleven or twelve. This year, Su Jinzhi is seventy-two years old, "I can still pickpocket (dragon boats) now." He said that when the new Dongpo is completed, the old Dongpo will be officially "retired" and enter the district museum for citizens and tourists to visit and appreciate.
At the scene, Huang Jianting, the fifth generation inheritor of the Dragon Ship Family, is leading the workers to make the new Dongpo. According to him, the dragon boat is made entirely of Pontianak wood, using almost all the inventory in the factory, and the construction period is expected to take more than 20 days. "The villagers are looking forward to the new Dongpo, and we also try to restore the size, so the cycle is twice as long as normal."