The Fifth Dragon Boat World Championships begins today at the Water Sports Center in Shanghai's suburban Qingpu District with 71 teams from around the globe contending for titles in 22 different classifications.

　　The championship was originally scheduled for late last August, but had to be pushed back 14 months due to the SARS outbreak.

　　"This is not only a tournament but also a festival," said Zhu Jiangzhong, a Qingpu District government official on the event's organizing committee.

　　This will be the second time for China to stage a dragon boat world championship, with central Hunan Province playing host seven years ago.

　　Teams arrived on Monday and spent yesterday practicing along the 1,000-meter course at the Water Sports Center. Each boat includes 28 paddlers, one navigator in the back and a coxswain up front who beats a drum to provide the dramatic "heartbeat of the dragon" that keeps the rowers in sync.

　　Despite the sport's all-amateur status, the championship includes some athletes who have earned fame in other areas of competition.

　　"I'm out of season now and just wanted to try something different," said Martin Doktor of the Czech Republic, the winner of 1,000-meter canoe sprint at the 1996 Olympics.