Drums, Dragons & Determination: The Story behind the Benelux Intern-National Dragons
A concept, a reality
It all began during a meeting at the offices of our member Dawo Law Firm : they received the opportunity to form a team for the race, and passed that exciting responsibility to us.
The Dragon Boat Festival, held each year on the Suzhou Creek in Shanghai, commemorates the death of poet Qu Yuan over 2,000 years ago. Today, it blends tradition and sport as teams from around the world gather to compete in this internationally recognized event.
Inspired by the spirit of international collaboration, we decided to build a team centered around our participants from our Chamber’s Intern2China program : a dynamic group of ambitious, motivated individuals ready to take on the challenge and represent Benelux at this international event. Not long after forming the team, we connected with our trainer Dean Sum, who was appointed with the heavy task to train all this “young uncontrolled energy” into a strong, synchronized team!
Nantong, here we come!
With our concept converted to reality, it was now time for real action. Thanks to Dean Sum, our team embarked on an intensive training camp in Nantong, where we underwent an accelerated introduction to Dragon Boat racing. On the agenda: cultural immersion, the history of the sport, posture techniques, and river training sessions.
We were incredibly lucky to have the support of local government, the event organizers, and of course, Dean, throughout the weekend, boosting both adrenaline and team spirit. We were even interviewed by a local tv station (see video below).
No Time for Jokes
Then came the big day: the real competition! Dressed in our uniforms, paddles in hand, and with energy levels through the roof, we stepped into the athletes’ zone. Our racing group included professional teams from Taiwan, Macau, Shanghai, and more.
Over the weekend, we competed in several races over 100m and 200m distances, striving to improve our group ranking. Success depended entirely on synchronization, keeping our paddle strokes perfectly aligned with the drummer’s rhythm, building momentum like a “jet taking off”.
We experienced both setbacks and triumphs, including a thrilling win during Sunday morning’s 100m small final, where we clinched first place by a razor-thin margin. It was a moment of pride, excitement, and pure Benelux spirit.
No Team without the Benelux Support!
We are deeply proud to have taken part in this event and incredibly thankful for all the support we received along the way.
A big thank you to our sponsors, Kasteel, 12 Square Meter, and Loop Earplug, who helped us prepare and brought a taste of home to our Benelux booth.
Our appreciation goes to the organizing committee for putting together such a successful event, with over 3 million online viewers and 20,000 people on site.
Special thanks to the Benelux Chamber of Commerce team Jonathan and Kim, for connecting the dots and guiding the team along the way, and last but not least, a big thanks to our intern Gaspard, for executing the internal coordination of the Intern-National Dragons team with great finesse! https://intern2china.org/
