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Experience the thrill of the dragon boat race and cheer on your favorite team!
The Dragon Boat Festival in China, also known as Duanwu Festival, is an experience of a lifetime. This Chinese holiday takes place on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. For the Gregorian calendar, this is usually in May or early June.
Held in honour of the poet Qu Yuan, the Dragon Boat Festival is over 2,000 years old and celebrated in several other countries, including Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and Japan.
According to legend, the festival can be traced back to the events during China's Warring States period. Qu Yuan, an ancient Chinese poet, served as a minister of the state of Chu and was against the king's decision to ally with the state of Qin. He wanted to wage a war against Qin. However, the king disapproved of the plan, accused Qu of treason and banished the poet for opposing this alliance. Eventually, Qin captured the state of Chu, and Qu Yuan died by drowning himself in the Miluo River.
The legend further says that his admirers raced their boats to save him, which is how dragon boat races originated in China. When the locals could not find his body, they dropped balls of sticky rice into the river to prevent the fish from eating the poet's body. It is said that this is how the traditional Chinese dish of zongzi came into being. Since then, the Dragon Boat Festival is a yearly event commemorating the ancient poet and folk hero and symbol of nationalism in the People's Republic of China.
As someone who has experienced the Dragon Boat Festival in China, I can say it is incredibly vibrant and exciting. Dragon boat racing is one of the most popular customs associated with this festival, held on many waterways, lakes, and rivers across China.
The long paddle boats built in the shape of an open-mouthed dragon with a scaly tail at the end are traditionally made of teak wood and painted in bright colours. It was a treat to see these 40 to 100 feet long colorful boats with dozens of rowers rowing perfectly in sync with the drumbeats.
The perfect rhythm of the loud beats helped the rowers paddle the boats in harmony was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I missed the chance to witness the painting of the eyes of the boats, a sacred ceremony performed before the competition to bring the boat to life. The team that was the first to grab a flag at the end of the course won the race and walked away with medals and prizes. The winners also are said to be blessed with a year of happiness and good fortune. It looked like they had begun on a good note by winning the race!
Several other customs and beliefs are associated with the festival. The place was teaming with children wearing silk ribbons or threads made of five colours (red, blue, yellow, white, and black) for the festival. They also carried perfume silk pouches filled with herbal medicines or fragrances.
Additionally, pouches of Chinese mugwort and calamus plants hang at the doors or walls of houses to ward off diseases and keep evil spirits at bay. The plants also signify happiness and good luck besides warding off evil and keeping mosquitoes and other insects at bay.
You will also find pictures of Zhong Kui, a Taoist deity believed to be the vanquisher of ghosts and evil, hanging on the walls of people's homes. Many also bathe in flower-scented water or take part in the game of making an egg stand and writing spells.
In Taiwan, people follow a ritual of fetching noon water. They draw water from wells in the afternoon during the festival because they believe it will cure illnesses of all kinds. These customs are followed to promote the health, harmony, and well-being of the community. The festival serves to strengthen the bonds within families and to establish a peaceful relationship with nature.
No celebration can be complete without food. At the Dragon Boat Festival, you can try the best that traditional Chinese cuisine has to offer. You have to eat zongzi, a traditional Chinese dish, when here. Specially prepared for the occasion, zongzi is a pyramid-shaped dumpling made of sticky glutinous rice and fillings wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves and tied together with a string. They can be sweet or savoury and include nuts, bean paste, eggs, meat, or jujube. My mouth watered as I inhaled the different aromas. I enjoyed the zongzi filled with sweet bean taste to satisfy my sweet cravings. The sweet bean paste combined with the sticky rice was not too sweet and thoroughly enjoyable. I tried using the chopsticks but could not master the art of eating with them and had to settle for a spoon instead!
Another quite popular ritual, especially in South China, is eating five yellow foods — eel, yellow croaker, cucumber, salted duck egg, and realgar wine. These are believed to drive away poisonous insects, scorpions, and snakes. You must try realgar wine, a Chinese alcoholic drink made of fermented cereals and powdered realgar, a yellow-orange arsenic sulfide mineral. The orange-red wine is believed to be a powerful antidote against toxins and diseases. As it contains some arsenic, it can be slightly toxic and consumed sparingly on special occasions. Therefore I just took a couple of sips of the wine. I found the wine to have a bitter and spicy taste with an earthy flavor.
If you're attending the festival in Gansu Province, I suggest trying Mianshanzi — a fan-shaped dish made of five overlapping layers of thin flour dough sprinkled with pepper and different kinds of light seasoning. If you are in Wuhan, you can try eels, which are known for their nutritional content. But, if you're in Whenzou, gorge on paper-thin wheat pancakes stuffed with leeks, mushrooms, meat, and other fillings.
In 2023, the Dragon Boat Festival will be celebrated from 22nd June to 24th June on the Chinese mainland. You can experience the festivities and celebrations in popular places like Hangzhou, Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Gansu, and Suzhou. China observes a three-day national holiday every year during the festival.
If you are planning to attend the Dragon Boat Festival in China, you must experience the dragon boat races (Hong Kong and Suzhou are the best places to witness the races). It also goes without saying that you must try zongzi and realgar wine. These are things you will not find anywhere else in the world. Do not forget to wear those perfume sachets for good luck and fortune!
Oh, and before I leave, remember not to greet people with a 'Happy Dragon Boat Festival' message, as this festival is held to commemorate the death of Qu Yuan. Hence this greeting may be considered inappropriate.
Happy holidaying!
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