Dragon Boats

Students from Jeff Peterson's English seminar, What the River Knew, and Jasmine Hsu's AP Chinese and Chinese II classes board three dragon boats during an interdisciplinary outing. In advance of the hour long paddle, students learned about the great Chinese poet and minister Qu Yuan (c. 340–278 BC) whose death is commemorated in the traditional Dragon Boat Festival (or Duanwu Festival) in China.

Participants got a firsthand feel for dragon boat racing, doing lively warmup exercises, learning to pull together as a synchronized crew, and testing their newfound skills in short races at the Berkeley marina. Thank you to Paul Kamen of the Berkeley Racing Canoe Center who helped facilitate the adventure.