Today, people hold the race (different) from place to place. Along the Miluo River in Hubei Province, a grand opening ceremony is held before the race starts. At the ceremony dozens of men in new clothes, with (burn) candles in hands, walk around boats three times to show worship of Lu Ban, the master craftsman; then they carry, on their shoulders,image of dragon's head to the Temple of Qu Yuan,they pay their respect to this saint; finally they tie red ribbons the boats and pull them into the rive for the race. At the crack of signal gun, the boats race ahead like discharged arrows (fit) to bowstrings while both banks are a hubbub of voices, a babel of firecracker explosions and a scene of fluttering colored banners. In Sichuan's Luzhou and (it) nearby regions, the racers in a dragon boat include a commander, a drummer and some rowers. The commander, standing on the bow, waves a flag and sings a race song to synchronize (使同步) rowing movements while the drummer beats a drum with all his strength (cheer) the rowers on. In the areas of Xiamen and Zhangzhou of Fujian Province, a big (wood) boat is arranged lying at the finishing line. When race boats reach the line, a number of ducks (release) from the big wooden boat into the river for all the racers to catch amid thunderous cheers of spectators on the banks.
