For the first time, the Chinese New Year was celebrated with a regatta of "dragon boats" – 03/02/2019

"The challenge was huge: teach them to line up 400 Chinese, who only speak Chinese." On the side of the dike 3, a few meters from the women's bridge, María Julia Garisoain, former Olympic competitor and current president of the Metropolitan Rowing Federation, chose these words to tell an experience that had never existed before and that would soon lead to something. unpublished in the city of Buenos Aires: the first celebration of Chinese New Year with a dragon boat race in Puerto Madero.

Looking towards the river, Garisoain described these long boats, with the head and tail of a dragon at the ends, as the barges are very difficult to sink due to their ability to not tip over. "Although very difficult," he said. The expertise he is in the helmsman, who is in the bow and is in charge of directing. In the group out of 400 Chinese, we detect the 12 most qualified for the post. "

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The process took months. Some of the rowers, the organizers said Clarin, they returned last year to China to prepare to welcome these "water dragons", symbols of power and victory, which have 2,200 years and that, in the case of those who crossed the Puerto Madero Cbad at full speed, they were donated by the Chinese government.

"If we have to learn something from the Chinese, it's their education." We traded with the 12 captains and it was very rewarding to observe their method: one gives the orders and the others answer. to contradict or to give better orders It is very easy to work with people who are willing to follow the rules, "Garisoain summarized.

With the team of the Argentine federation, representatives of the Chinese consulate and embbady, ​​as well as officials of Buenos Aires, she spoke and coordinated the details via the "Dragon" group. "That they created on WhatsApp, where Chinese ideograms were mixed with Spanish words. A very similar situation was repeated, not in virtual form, but throughout the Sunday, in a Puerto Madero full of Chinese and Argentine flagsand hundreds of people agglomerated in the Dock grills, with songs and encouraging phrases in both languages.

In Argentina, according to the statistics of the consulate, 180,000 Chinese live, of which 150,000 live in the capital and the GBA. Andy arrived from La Plata with 29 other colleagues from the Chinese Merchants Association of La Plata, one of 22 teams competing. "We are a baaaanda," he said, stretching the "a" as one screams in a martial art shot: serious, from the bottom of the throat. "This game is very important (because of the regatta), we celebrate the Chinese New Year. Important to share with ArgentinesHe added: "He was happy: in the neighborhood, his three children were visiting the port and he and his companions were waiting for the departure, drinking water and eating fruits.

Andy said that they were getting ready night after night, without stopping; weekends too. They improvised a long boat in the pool of the club of the Association and so they practiced. What he was going to do was like football for the Argentineans, which came from his grandfather and a lot more back, but he was an amateur. Andy was born in Fujian, in southeastern China, but most of his family now live in Argentina. On Monday, the eve of New Year's "piggy land" (the first day is Tuesday), all will join a table: "With 10 dishes, minimum," he said.

The Chinese New Year celebration is the most important event for the Chinese community. It represents the arrival of spring, the completion of one stage and the beginning of another. It is governed by the lunar calendar and each year is represented by an animal of the horoscope.

"The rowers are not rowers, they are celebrating this new year with the spirit of making efforts and learning," said Carlos Lin, a journalist – he led this event and other New Year events – the Taiwanese merchant's son, raised to Capital and local community reference At his side, the consul Chen added: "The meaning is team work, as now Argentina and China are in a stage of knowledge and exchangeThis is the best time for the link to deepen, thanks to a symbolic example, such as the dragon boat regatta.