The lifting ceremony of dragon boats took place in Liede sub-district of Guangzhou's Tianhe district on Feb 21, the day of China's Longtaitou Festival, also known as the Dragon-Head-Raising Festival, which falls on the second day of the second lunar month every year.

A blessing ceremony is carried out before lifting the dragon boats from the river bottom. [Photo/WeChat account: tianhefabu]

Li Zhifeng, head of Liede Traditional Culture, noted that this ceremony used to be held on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, but after four years of suspension, everyone is looking forward to seeing the dragon boats, so this year it was held much earlier.

According to tradition, young and middle-aged people lift the dragon boats that were buried in the river bed during the lifting ceremony. When they are fixed on the shore, the dragon boats will be painted with beautiful designs to get them ready for the Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month every year, which is June 22 this year.

Residents of Liede sub-district work together to clean the dragon boats. [Photo/WeChat account: tianhefabu]

A total of 12 dragon boats were lifted from the river bottom, including an old golden dragon boat, which was formed in 1996 and won the A-class champion at a traditional dragon boat race to celebrate the 20th anniversary of reform and opening up in June 1998.

The dragon boats show their "true face" after they are lifted up and cleaned. [Photo/WeChat account: tianhefabu]