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Taiwan welcomes summer with dragon boat races and rice dumplings, at the annual Dragon Boat Festival. Lets take a closer look.

The final teams raced across the river toward the finishing flags on Monday as Taiwan celebrated the Dragon Boat Festival to welcome the arrival of summer.

One hundred sixty-five teams competed in this year's races in Taipei's Dajia Riverside Park, and four finalist teams raced for championship on Monday.

[Dragon Boat Race Onlooker]:
"I really admire them. They are kept in top shape under this blaring sun."

A team from Taiwan's off-shore Orchid Island was one of the finalists. Orchard Island is where aborigines row on traditional boats to catch flying fish in their biggest annual festivals.

[Orchid Island Team Rower]:
"The spirit of rowing the dragon boat is the same as the spirit of rowing our own traditional boat for fishing; this is a cultural exchange."

The races commemorate the death of a popular Chinese ancient hero, Qu Yuan, who drowned in the Mi Lo River over 2,000 years ago to protest against corrupt rulers.

According to Chinese legends, people attempted to rescue Qu Yuan by beating drums to scare the fish away and throwing dumplings into the sea to prevent the fish from eating his body.

People crowded in early on Monday morning to purchase rice dumplings from the markets.