HANGZHOU -- A canoeing relay was held on Sunday in Hangzhou, host city of the 19th Asian Games in 2022, with the Games set to welcome their two-year countdown next week.

Five hundred canoeing-lovers, led by famous athletes and representatives from all walks of life, set off from the Qiantang River in Hangzhou, and carried the relay through the waters of Qiandao Lake, the Xin'an River and Fuchun River in several counties of the city. In each part, 19 people played the role of leading navigator, symbolizing the 19th Asian Games.

Among them was 11-year-old Shen Xuanhong, who led the way in the Qiandao Lake section. Despite his young age, he has been practicing canoeing for three years. However, this was the first time he rowed in the lake for a long distance, seven kilometers in total, which made him "excited and nervous."

After successful completing the distance, his emotions turned to "delighted and surprised."

"It usually takes me at least an hour and a half to get this far, but this time I finished in less than an hour. There were thrilling moments, like encountering big waves and getting hit by another kayak, but overall it was pretty good," Shen said, gasping and smiling.

Shen's mother said she was happy to see her boy, who frequently got sick before, build up strength after taking up the sport, and added that she was considering letting Shen's eight-year-old sister have a try when canoeing classes return after the pandemic.

Former two-time Olympic canoeing champion Meng Guanliang, who called on the public to live a green and healthy life at the closing ceremony, said he was "very excited" to be part of such an event.

"Water sports encourage people to embrace nature. It is particularly meaningful to let more people know about water sports and pay more attention to the Asian Games through this kind of activity," noted Meng, who is now head of the Water Sports Management Center of Zhejiang province.

In addition to Hangzhou, co-host cities of Ningbo, Wenzhou, Jinhua, Shaoxing also staged water sports competitions and other Asiad-themed activities, joined by other cities in Zhejiang including Lishui and Jiaxing.

According to Du Zuofeng, deputy director of the Co-Host Cities Department of the organizers, the online activities (launched in July as part of the two-year countdown celebration) which encouraged people to upload their exercising record, was a big hit, engaging 310,000 people nationwide with a total of 21.72 million kilometers covered.

The Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games will be held from Sept 10-25, 2022.