A dragon at the entrance to Kazan: how sabantuy reconciled boats with kayaks, and business with a cultural program
August 16 is the day when the business program of the forum "SPROUTS: Russia and China — mutually beneficial cooperation" has not yet officially begun, but the rehearsal of the main thing is already underway: how two cultures come to the same venue and agree. Only instead of meeting rooms, there is Nizhny Kaban Lake, and instead of handshakes, there are paddles.
Boats that solve more than they seem
"Chinese Sabantuy and the Dragon Boat Race" is the name of the organizers of the program, which unfolds from 10:00 to 15:30 at the Kamal Theater. It sounds like fun for a family day out. And that's it, but with a double bottom.
Judge for yourself: at 9:45, the teams line up in front of the stage, at 9:50, the guests of honor arrive, and at 10:05, the host, introducing the forum and announcing the sponsor, actually says out loud the same thing that will be repeated at the plenary sessions a day later — "Russia and China, mutually beneficial cooperation." It's just that for now they're talking to the drums, not the protocol.
Further on, according to the schedule, but you can't hide the excitement in this schedule: at 10:25 there is a demonstration race on a kayak, at 10:30 the first qualifying race of Dragon boats among Tatarstan enterprises, at 10:40 there is a demonstration race on a canoe. Then five more qualifying races in a row — in 10:55, 11:20, 11:45, 12:10 and 12:35 — and finally the denouement: final A at 13:00, final B at 13:20, and from 13:45 to 14:15 — awarding ceremony. Eight races in less than four hours. Someone calls it a sports festival. We would call this an ideal networking model: in one morning, the crews of enterprises learn more about each other than in a month of business correspondence.
While some are rowing, others are sculpting a panda
In parallel with the races, workshops are held on the site all day, and here the organizers clearly tried to assemble the "cultural constructor" of China in miniature.:
- "Drums with masks of the Beijing Opera" — the art of the Chinese drum, only rhythm and brush;
- "Veera" — "dance of brush and wind";
- The "plaster panda figure" is a sculpture of the national symbol of China, the figure promises to be a good luck charm.;
- Chinese calligraphy;
- Book Bookmarks — an amulet bookmark with Chinese symbols;
- aquagrim "Face like a canvas" — hieroglyphs instead of makeup;
- Qigong and Taijiquan — Chinese wellness practices;
- and, by contrast, ATV riding — in case someone wants speed after calligraphy and qigong.
Why would a business forum need boats if there are sessions tomorrow?
Ask: what does the forum have to do with it, if it is, in fact, a children's party with elements of rowing? Despite the fact that ROSTKI is not an exhibition of stands, but an annual venue held by the Republic of Tatarstan with the support of the federal authorities of Russia and the provinces of the People's Republic of China. In 2025, it was attended by about 10,000 participants from 40 countries, and about 200 Chinese companies confirmed their applications for the 2026 forum. The trade turnover between Russia and China in the first half of 2026 amounted to 134 billion dollars, 26% more than a year earlier. There are usually days like this behind such figures: when, before sitting down at the Russia-China Business Dialogue session, people first row in the same boat, literally.
What's next
On August 17, at 09:00, Pavilion A2, the grand opening of the forum and the presentation of the Russia-China Expo exhibition will take place. The program of the day includes session A1 "Low-altitude economy: a new contour of urban mobility", A2 "Chinese business, welcome to Tatarstan!" and the main point of the day, A3 "Business dialogue between Russia and China" — there will be the maximum concentration of top officials of companies from both sides for all three days. Deliver-2 will be on the site and will tell you what of today's spirit of cooperation will survive until Monday morning — and what it will turn into on paper.
