The 2024 Guangzhou International Dragon Boat Invitational Tournament will take place on the Pearl River in Guangzhou on June 16, according to a press conference held by the Administration of Sport of Guangzhou Municipality this afternoon.

The 2024 tournament will have a wide participation. A total of 111 dragon boat teams consisting of nearly 4,000 athletes, including teams from the US, Canada, and Malaysia, will compete on the section of the Pearl River between the Square of Sun Yat-Sen University North Entry and Guangzhou Bridge. Cities within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, such as Foshan, Huizhou, as well as Hong Kong and Macao, will also send their dragon boat teams.

The tournament includes four categories, namely Men's Open Category, Women's Open Category, Men's International Category, and University Student's Category. On the day of the tournament, winning teams of the preliminaries and semifinals in the morning will set their paddles for the championship in the afternoon.

Apart from the fierce competition, the tournament will lead the audience into Lingnan's dragon boat culture through wonderful performances presented by traditional dragon boats and a dragon boat parade.

On Sunday, an audience area will be set up at the North Entry of the Sun Yat-Sen University Guangzhou South Campus. Dragon boat lovers who would like to go are suggested to follow news and notices released by departments of public security and maritime safety as temporary traffic control will be imposed on nearby waterways and roads to secure a safe competition.

The areas to be put into traffic control are: the Pearl River section of the competition area (between the Square of Sun Yat-Sen University North Entry and Guangzhou Bridge), sections of the Qingbo Road, Tanyue Street, Haishan Street, Yuchang Street, and the Square of Sun Yat-Sen University North Entry.