A Baijiao native who had led the national women's dragon boat is training the Baijiao Aoyuan Lishui Bay team to defend its crown at the Zhuhai Civic Fitness Sports Meet & Doumen Dragon Boat Race Invitational on Saturday, May 29.

Liang Liping is coaching the team from 3 to 6 pm daily to hone their physical strength, skill, and mindset. Joining the veterans are seven new members. The average age is 21 and the youngest is 17.

Team Baijiao Aoyuan Lishui Bay trains under the guidance of Liang Liping [Photo by Zhang Fan & Publicity Department of the CPC Doumen District Committee to Zhujiang Evening Post]

Liang won the 2010 Guangzhou and 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, Asian Dragon Boat Championships, and IDBF World Cup. She is offering that experience to polish up the brand of Baijiao dragon boat racing. Besides Liang, Doumen District also is home to men's national team leader Feng Guojing and team member Ling Wenwei, and women's national team member Liang Zhuanhao.

A dragon boat team from Jing'an Town, fourth among local contestants during last year's event, also has many rookies and is training in advance to crack the top three.  

Meanwhile, 60 percent of the Liyang dragon boat team from Lianzhou Town are new. The average age has fallen from 40 to 30, a prime age for dragon boat racing. Training eight hours daily, the recruits have gradually grasped individual skills and fostered a fighting team spirit.

In total, 45 teams from Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area cities including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan's Shunde District, and Macao are to blade down the Huangyang River.