Originally Dragon Boat was used for religious purposes as a way to appease the rain gods. Each boat has an ornately carved dragon's head at the bow and a tail in the stern. The boat is painted with scales. The paddles symbolically represent the dragon's claws, the drum represents the heart
<a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Michol_Sanchez" title="User:Michol Sanchez">Michol Sanchez</a>
CC BY-SA 4.0
<span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>