It has been long long time since we last touch on Xingbao set. After Xingbao’s big brother LEPIN got into trouble, the brand has been lying low for a while. We bought the set XB-25002 Royal Dragon Boat for Chinese Spring Festival and end up having no celebration due to corona virus outbreak. The design was based on huge dragon boat in ancient China that was cruising in river via manpower that paddle the boats. The boats were large enough with accommodation and frequently used by royalty, government officials or rich merchants. The reviews used the photos contributed by xiaoyujie.







Open Box of Xingbao XB-25002 Royal Dragon Boat

A big and heavy box with 3325 pieces of parts.

The back of the box showcasing details of the box. You can hide the crank that move the paddles.

Eight Xingbao style minifigures which are different to LEGO figure.

A copy of thick instruction manual.

Take note of the two pages of correction. We make a mistake not following them in the beginning.

Stickers with Chinese characters that meant well wishes.

Taking A Look at Minifigures

To avoid legal trouble from the infamous Danish brick makers, many Chinese clone brick brands had switched to minifigures with different design. For Xingbao, the minifigures arrived in two packets and have to be assembled manually.

Unique sleeves for the figure.

No idea which dynasty the figures are based on. The hats are what imperial officers wearing in ancient China.

Notice the unique sleeves?

Back printing for the body.

Hurray, long live the Emperor! The hands could stretch out vertically. If would be nice if they could include a minifigure for the Emperor because this is “Royal” Dragon boat.

Building in Progress

Bags 1. We make a mistake here which we will explain later.

The correction page said black long axle with correct length to be used. We didn’t notice and use the grey ones. If you use the grey ones, it will bend when you are cranking the gearing. Do use the black ones!

Bags 2.

An improvement in the tone of the golden parts compared to the older series.

Bags 3.

12 paddles.

Row row row your boat, gentle down the stream.

Printed part for Guqin, a Chinese zither for scholars and literati.

Bags 4.

Unique parts for Chinese buildings.

The well wishes verses sticker for you to pick.

Xingbao bricks are still as bad as before. Despite being part of LEPIN family, Xingbao had their own factory that made substandard parts. See how the parts had bended?

We pick the phrase dragon soar with wind.

Inner details.

Bags 5.

Golden roofing fits for royalty.

Bags 6.

Let’s drink wine here.

We used the wrong parts in previous steps, end up running out white single studs with hole. Got to be careful.

Putting various sections together.

The lower deck.

Bags 7.

For those who had built Xingbao sets before, this shall look familiar.

Bags 8.

Lots of red lanterns on the boats.

Bags 9. In case you confused about 6 and 9, the small numbers always printed above the big number.

A massive dragon tail.

Bags 10.

Dragon head with lots of yellow parts.

If the head could use golden parts it would blend better with the rest of the buildings behind.

Bags 11.

Royal Dragon Boat completed!

Bags 12 to build the base of the boat.

The boat props up by the base. We like the way the paddles hang by the side.

Summary of Xingbao XB-25002 Royal Dragon Boat

This is a massive set from Xingbao which is good for display. The oriental theme is what Xingbao specialize in and the design wise reflected that. Still, Xingbao do poorly in balancing the structure integrity and design. The poor clutches of Xingbao bricks made the building process unpleasant. The cranking motion is quite smooth to move the 12 peddles. Do remember to use the right black long axles. The minifigures are unique to Xingbao with special sleeves. If you like to collect brick built boat, this can be considered for your collection. You may order Xingbao XB-25002 Royal Dragon Boat from Aliexpress.