Chen Bingshou, an officially-designated inheritor of the craft of making dragon boats, decorates a dragon head at the Intangible Cultural Heritage Center in Daoxian county, Hunan province, in May. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

The dragon boat races are the highlight of China's annual Dragon Boat Festival. The event was celebrated as a traditional folk activity in Daoxian county, Yongzhou, Hunan province, as early as the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

The tradition of dragon boat racing in Daoxian, which was also known as Daozhou during ancient times, was listed as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage in June.

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Chen Bingshou, an officially-designated inheritor of the craft of making dragon boats, installs a phoenix head at the front end of a boat in Daoxian, in May 2020. The dragon boats in Daoxian feature not just dragons but also phoenixes, tigers and unicorns. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

To better protect the tradition and ensure it remains alive, Daoxian's Intangible Cultural Heritage Center invited Chen Bingshou, an officially-designated inheritor of the craft of making dragon boats, to repair old dragon heads used to decorate the boats.

Now nearly 60, Chen has been carving dragon heads for more than four decades, and was designated the inheritor in 2006.

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He said the heads are usually made of water willow, which is light but hard enough for a bow. The hollow heads go through several steps, including carving, polishing and painting, before they are installed at the front end of a boat. The complex process takes a craftsman around 12 days.

Chen Bingshou, an officially-designated inheritor of the craft of making dragon boats, carries out repairs of a dragon head for exhibition, after the traditional dragon boat races in Daoxian were suspended in May due to epidemic prevention measures. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Chen Bingshou, an officially-designated inheritor of the craft of making dragon boats, paints a dragon head in Daoxian in June. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Chen Bingshou, an officially-designated inheritor of the craft of making dragon boats, paints a dragon head in Daoxian in May. His work includes carving, polishing as well as painting. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)