Foshan is one of the heartlands of dragon boat culture in Guangdong, with a racing tradition that predates the establishment of the city's current administrative boundaries. The Foshan area rivers — particularly around Shunde — host races during the Dragon Boat Festival (fifth day of the fifth lunar month, usually June) that draw boats from dozens of surrounding villages, each representing a different clan or neighbourhood association.
The Shunde races are among the largest and most fiercely contested in the Pearl River Delta, with boats that have been in continuous use by the same families for generations. Watching the races from the riverbanks is free. The competitive dynamic — neighbours racing against neighbours, clans against clans — is more interesting than the spectacle itself, and local spectators will explain the social geography of who is racing whom if you ask.