In June, 37 Māori men from New Zealand performed the Haka in Diejiao, Foshan. This dragon boat team, accustomed to the open waters of the South Pacific, took on a challenging channel that narrows to just three meters at its narrowest point—a true "Waterborne F1". This Dragon Boat Festival, more and more foreigners are no longer content to watch from the shore; they are grabbing paddles and joining the race themselves.

Diejiao village boasts a dragon boat racing tradition that goes back nearly five hundred years. The racecourse there is not a broad, straight stretch of open water; instead, it is a natural maze of S-curves, C-turns, L-bends, and channels littered with wooden stakes and massive boulders. The twenty-five-meter-long boats must navigate through these perilous twists at high speed, scraping past bridge piers and fishtailing around corners. Even the slightest miscalculation can send a boat crashing into another boat. The locals have every turn and obstacle etched into their muscle memory from years of practice, but for the newly arrived New Zealand team, this unforgiving course was a harsh and immediate initiation, leaving no doubt about the difficulty awaiting them.

This team was made up of 32 paddlers, 1 drummer, and 4 steersmen. Compared with the lean, wiry local villagers, the New Zealand team, with all members on board, experienced a noticeably deeper draft. Even more challenging was the fact that, accustomed to the open waters of New Zealand and their straight-line racing, they struggled to find the optimal entry line in the narrow bends, only 3 to 6 meters wide. According to team members, it took more than a dozen practice runs before these tall overseas paddlers could just manage to execute the turns.

Besides the New Zealand team, the dragon boat races of the Greater Bay Area have attracted numerous young foreigners. Many of them have picked up paddles and thrown themselves into the sport, gradually becoming accepted as part of the local community.

当毛利战舞遇上佛山叠滘龙舟

6月的佛山叠滘，37名新西兰毛利汉子，正跳起Haka（毛利战舞）。这支来自新西兰的龙舟队，从南太平洋的开阔水域，一头扎进了最窄处仅3米的“水上F1”极限水道。这个端午，越来越多的外国人不再只做看客，而是直接握桨下水。

拥有近500年赛龙舟历史的叠滘村，赛道不是平直的宽阔水域，而是由S弯、C弯、L弯及布满木桩巨石的天然迷宫组成的。25米长的龙舟要在这种极限河道里高速过弯，擦着桥墩甩尾漂移，稍有不慎就会“煲烂”（撞船）。这条让本地村民形成肌肉记忆的赛道，给初来乍到的新西兰队来了一个结结实实的“下马威”。

这支队伍由32名桨手、1名鼓手及4名舵手组成。相比于体型精干的本地村民，全员登船的新西兰队吃水明显变深。更棘手的是，习惯了新西兰开阔水域“直道竞速”的他们，面对宽度仅有3至6米的弯道，一时间难以找到最佳的切入走线。队员告诉记者，经过十多次反复练习，这群高大的外国队员才初步完成转弯动作。

除了新西兰队，大湾区的龙舟水，更吸引了无数外国青年。他们握起船桨，实现从“老外”到“老内”的蜕变。

文｜记者 罗清峣 彭纪宁
图｜图源佛山传媒
译｜黄健新
英文审校｜曾敏