This year's Traditional Chinese Dragon Boat Race got underway in Tongren, southwest China's Guizhou Province, on Friday, one day ahead of the annual Dragon Boat Festival.

A total of 60 teams from around the country made the trip to participate in the competitions featuring four events – men's and women's traditional style and men's and women's freestyle. The course is a straight 500 meters long for all events.

The results of the preliminary rounds sent 24 teams into Saturday's early semifinals, with the championship finals set for later in the day.