Expatriates celebrate Pudong's culture heritage
A dragon boat race on Sunland Lake.
Shanghai's emerging international community Sunland has hosted the first international dragon boat race to celebrate the traditional Chinese festival.
The race, held Saturday on Sunland Lake in Pudong's Waigaoqiao bonded area, gathered 45 teams from local communities and enterprises, like CSSC Marine Power, Decathlon (Shanghai), and WuXi Biologics. It attracted both locals and expats.
Roman Kornilov, a Decathlon (Shanghai) worker from Russia, said it was his first time to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival in such a traditional way.
"I was quite excited because I participated in the event with my wife," he said, adding that he hopes it can bring him good luck throughout the year.
The event attracts local expats.
It's his first year working and living in Pudong, but he's already fallen in love with the place, especially the local natural landscape.
The Sunland area boasts 2.62 million-square-meter greenland and 720,000-square-meters of water. All have been opened to the public.
After the race, a performance of professionals flying over the water using jetpacks was staged.
There's also a riverside fair showcasing Pudong's cultural heritages, such as paper-cutting, woolen embroidery and porcelain carving, to celebrate Cultural and Natural Heritage Day.
A man flies over the water.
The Pudong Culture & Arts Guidance Center offered foodies an alternative to celebrate the holiday, putting up stalls for people to taste Pudong's heritage-listed snacks, such as Xiasha shaomai (steamed dumpling), Gaoqiao songbing (crunchy cake) and Longtan jiuniang (sweet fermented glutinous rice).
Another highlight of the event was a traditional Chinese opera parade where performers in costumes walked around the venue, posed with iconic gestures and were available for photos.
According to the Pudong government, it now boasts 84 intangible cultural heritage items.
A traditional Chinese opera performer interacts with children at the Pudong Culture & Arts Guidance Center.
High on the government agenda is that the centuries-old Xinchang water town is working with other water towns in Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces to be placed on the UNESCO list of World Cultural Heritage sites.
Xinchang has a vibrant mix of interlacing alleys, carved stone-arch bridges and building clusters from the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing dynasties (1644-1911) where families have lived for generations.
Expats enjoy traditional snacks in Xinchang.
A water town scene in Xinchang.
