HAIKOU, China, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese dragon boat race final 2017 started on Saturday in Lingshui, a county of south China's Hainan Province.

A total of 36 top teams across China competed in the two-day race with a prize money of one million yuan (about 151,515 U.S. dollars).

The teams are categorized in professional and youth divisions, with race distances of 100 meters, 200 meters and 500 meters.

The champion team will represent China to participate in the dragon boat race of Asian Championship to be held next year.