The Silk Road Journal by Mahika Ming

The 2021 Belt and Road International Regatta was held in

The 2021 Belt and Road International Regatta was held in Beihai, China from the 4^th till 12^th of November.  Beihai is in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the south of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has more than 140 partners and more than 120 sailing athletes from the PRC, USA, Italy, Germany and other partners participated at this year’s event according to organizers.

Beihai was an important port in the ancient maritime Silk Road in Great China. With the BRI related development Beihai has accelerated efforts to promote marine sports since 2013 with plans to develop Beihai into a center of sporting activity in the Beibu Gulf and ASEAN region. 2021event will be hosted by the Chinese Yachting Association, the Sports Bureau of Guangxi and the Beihai government. 2021 is the third time this international Regatta is held in Beihai (Ref. Chinese sports sources).

Beihai which literally means "Northern Sea" is one of the largest gardens in the PRC and is part of the former imperial garden located northwestern of the Imperial City of, Beijing. The park covers an area of approx. 70 hectares (170 acres) which includes a lake that covers more than 35 hectares with the famous Jade Flower Island located at the centre. The park was originally built in the 11th century AD. Beihai garden has numerous historically important structures, palaces, and temples which attracts millions of tourists annually. After the end of the imperial rule in 1911 the Beihai palace (since 1925) has been open to the public as a park (Ref Chinese sources).

Boat riding is not new to Sri Lankans. Those who admire the Sri Lankan positive thinking attitude believe that Sri Lankans would still be happy even if the boats they travel turns upside down. It is a famous folk tale connected with the Raigama and Gampola kingdoms which flourished in trade during the peak of ancient maritime Silk Road trade activities in the 1400s AD when Sri Jayawardanapura was the capital. The famous song by Rohana Beddage and Bandula Wijeweera explains the story. It is time for those master mind “Raigamayas” (those from Raigama presently the Kaluthara area) and the “Gampolayas” (those from Gampola covering the present hill country) to unite no matter if they are “Baiyas” (colloquial term for those who support the government) or “Toiyas” (colloquial term for those who support the opposition) to take the country out of the crisis.