China and Britain’s financiers take a break from Brexit in Canary Wharf’s Dragon Boat Festival
Investors from London to China have been busy this weekend following the economic aftermath of Brexit, but Chinese diplomats and business figures have taken Sunday off to do battle with City high-rollers in Canary Wharf's annual Dragon Boat Festival.
Over 40 teams including staff from auditors EY and PwC, City law firm DKLM, the Chinese Embassy, the Hong Kong Society and London Business School have taken a break from fretting over the value of sterling and are all rowing dragon-headed crafts in the Royal Albert Dock.
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City folk and diplomats took a break from watching the pound plummet and shared a slap up meal at Yi Ban overlooking the London Regatta Centre before heading out into the troubled water while 10,000 spectators looked on from dry land where a festival celebrating Chinese culture kept officials from the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, which supported the event, distracted from the economic aftermath of Britain's divorce from the EU.
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The bean-counters were joined by business folk from telecommunications firm Telstra and online marketplace Alibaba as well as bankers from China Construction Bank in facing the rain as they passed London City Airport to cross the finish line.