Kansas City tie with sister city in China celebrated with dragon boat race on Brush Creek
Droplets of sweat mingled with swirling water, as the SLAP Dragons team paddled across the finish line in the final dragon boat race of the Saturday afternoon.
The SLAP Dragons were one of many teams that gathered along a short stretch of Brush Creek on Saturday to celebrate the annual Dragon Boat Festival. Twelve-person teams raced in fiberglass boats fashioned to look like dragons. The boats were purchased in Beijing, China, less than a decade ago to replace older wooden boats.
The Dragon Boat festival is one of several major festivals in China. Celebrating the Dragon Boat festival in Kansas City emphasizes the sister city relationship with Xi’An, China, and provides a welcoming atmosphere for cultural exchange.
The other teams joining SLAP Dragons on the water were Rotary 13, China Hands from Johnson County Community College, Enactus, KC Art Institute, KU Pathology and Kansas City Chinese American Association. International teams established by the Ethnic Enrichment Commission of Kansas City also competed representing Sweden, Ireland, the Philippines and Africa.
According to the Kansas City Parks and Recreation website, the festival is organized by the Kansas City-Xi’An Sister City Committee and the Society for Friendship with China in partnership with Kansas City Parks and Recreation. This year marks the 35th anniversary of the sister city relationship between Kansas City and Xi’An and the 18th year of the Kansas City Dragon Boat Festival.
Delegations from Xi’An and the Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of China in Chicago were in attendance. Members of both delegations thanked attendees and wished all the competitors luck. Gifts were also exchanged between the representatives of the sister cities.
“We want to showcase the friendship, the people-to-people friendship, of these two cities,” said Joan Pu, secretary of the Sister City Association of Kansas City and vice president of the Society for Friendship with China. Pu also emphasized the multicultural nature of the event saying, “We want people to see the global aspect of Kansas City.”
The celebration wasn’t limited to dragon boat racing. The street above Brush Creek was lined with tents showcasing everything from food, to games, to language study materials.
As competition commenced, a day that dawned cool and rainy became quite the opposite. Spectators at the festival sought out small patches of shade along the creek from which to watch the action. Numbers dwindled as the heat index continued to climb, but the competing teams remained undaunted, with the SLAP Dragons emerging undefeated by the end of the racing.
When asked about their unchallenged dominance, SLAP Dragons coach Betty Welch said, “We work on timing because timing is everything.” While the SLAP Dragons only recently registered as a 501c3 charitable organization, the team has been practicing unofficially for just over a year.
“Our job is to grow the sport in Kansas City and then grow it nationally by taking our team to national races,” says president and coach Kari Rydalch. The team welcomes anyone interested in dragon boating to attend their twice weekly practices at Wyandotte County Lake through this July. “We’re addicted to dragon boating,” concluded Welch.
This story was originally published June 16, 2024 at 6:00 AM.