Xia Leng Dragon Boat Race
Traditional dragon boat culture grew up with the development of dragon culture. It is a folk culture event with dragon as the main body, dragon boat as the carrier, and dragon boat racing as the form of expression. It has accumulated the unique spiritual temperament and rich aesthetic taste of the Chinese nation. In 1053, Di Qing led his army to the south. Today, the residents of the Pinghua people's settlement area in Xixiangtang District are descendants of Pingnan soldiers. Every May 5th Dragon Boat Festival, people gather to watch dragon boat races and sing Pinghua songs; "I don't watch the Lantern Festival in the first month, but I pay attention to the dragon boats in May. The dragon boats in May are really good to watch. The dragon boats are so good to watch on the riverside." These lyrics have been passed down for nearly a thousand years along the banks of the river in Xixiangtang District, and are familiar to women, children, old and young. Dragon boat races in Tanluo, Jinling, Shibu and other places have been passed down from generation to generation, with a long history. Xialeng Village, the most representative of dragon boat culture, has many alleys, almost one alley has a dock, one alley has a dragon boat team, and there are eight alleys and nine docks in the village. Most of them have archways at the entrance of the alleys with inscriptions on them. For example, the back of "Zhengning Dock" is engraved with the words "Fu Shui Chang Liu", and there is also a list of fundraising for dock construction in front of the dock. The villagers live by the water, and most of the houses are in the style of the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. Most of them have patterns and murals under the eaves, many of which are allusions to dragon boats, which shows that the people of Xialeng cherish dragon boat culture and love dragon boat rowing activities. As early as more than 200 years ago when the dock in the village was rebuilt, the incomplete stone tablet dug out recorded that people from the current Long'an County, Daxin County and other counties came to watch the dragon boat race; the dragon boats in the river went against the current like arrows, and the shore cheered and cheered unprecedentedly. During the Dragon Boat Festival, every household makes rice dumplings, glutinous rice cakes, and slaughters pigs and sheep to entertain guests. The winning team members of the dragon boat team get to eat the "dragon head feast", which has formed a unique dragon boat food culture. At night, every household takes out a stool and gathers together to build a high "Fu Bridge", light a bonfire, light firecrackers, and set off fireworks. The whole village, men, women, and children, cross the Fu Bridge with thunderous cheers, praying for good weather, good fortune, longevity, and good luck. Then they go to the river together to release dragon lanterns and pray for good luck every year. The dragon boat culture expresses the spiritual demands and strong needs for emotional satisfaction of the people in Xixiangtang District. Since Xialeng Village resumed organizing and participating in dragon boat races in 1979, there are more than 70 dragon boat teams participating in the competitions in the urban area all year round, with a total of more than 60 dragon boats and thousands of dragon boat team members. They have participated in the Nanning International Dragon Boat Race, the ASEAN International Dragon Boat Invitational, the first Chinese Dragon Boat Cultural Exhibition, the China Water City "China Unicom Cup" Nanning International Dragon Boat Invitational and other competitions, and won more than 200 gold, silver, and bronze medals. The inheritance, protection, and promotion of dragon boat culture in Xixiangtang District is getting better and better.