Cultural Innovation Path of Guanzhong Festivals and Folklore Activities for a Healthy China

Abstract In the pursuit of a healthy China, festival folk activities, as a crucial component of national fitness, significantly contribute to the enhancement of people’s physical and mental health. This paper takes Ankang dragon boat racing activities as the entry point, analyzes the cultural connotation and digital innovation path of the Guanzhong region’s Dragon Boat Festival folk activities, and explores the modern information technology-enabled cultural innovation of Ankang dragon boat racing. We examine how Ankang Dragon Boat Racing’s innovation mode improves physical and mental health. Ankang Dragon Boat Racing activity has statistically demonstrated the ability to reduce negative emotions in participants and foster mental well-being. The scores for panic and anger decreased by 19.68 and 19.72 points, respectively. Measurements of physical fitness and health, including the 30-second elbow flexion test, the 30-second sitting and standing test, the 4-minute in-situ leg raising test, seated forward bending, arm circumference, shoulder supination, shoulder abduction, and so on, also showed significant improvements. The study demonstrated that the dragon boat exercise significantly enhanced physical function, resulting in an 87.01% and 28.36% improvement in the subjects’ mean values of the 30-second sitting and standing test and seated forward bending before and after the exercise, respectively. This improvement was beneficial for individuals from various paddling levels, age groups, and living environments. This study has provided useful research on the inheritance and innovation of festival folklore activities, as well as the health effects of dragon boat racing activities in the Guanzhong region.