On 25th June 2017 Clarity employees again took part in the annual London Dragon Boat Festival on the Thames as part of the London Chinatown Lions Club team.  With 39 teams taking part as well as lion dancing, martial arts, music and Asian cuisine available, there was a lot for spectators to enjoy.  After three races Clarity narrowly missed being in the semi-finals of the charity team races.

The History of the Festival
According to both legend and history, it is said that Dragon Boat Festival originated in ancient southern central China some 2,500 years ago along the banks of the Yangtze River, around the same era the Olympic Games began in Greece.  Today dragon boat racing is one of the most popular water sports both in China and overseas.  Over a decade ago, London Chinatown Lions Club organised the first Dragon Boat Festival in the London Docklands as a fund raiser for Chinese schools around the M25 area.

Dragon Boat Festival is a big cultural event in the Chinese calendar, second only to Chinese New Year.  The dragon in the Chinese Zodiac symbolises the clouds, rain and water, and is said to rule the rivers and lakes.  The farming communities began their worship of the dragon by organising dragon boat races to welcome the wet season, when farms began to sow their seeds.