Introduction
The Dragon Boat festival is a traditional festival falling
on the 5th day of the 5th month of China’s lunar calendar and has been
celebrated in China for over 2000 years. It has only been recognized as a
public holiday in mainland China since 2008. The Dragon Boat Festival is mostly
about eating a sticky rice dish called Zongzi, drinking an orange wine and
watching Dragon Boat races.
History
There are many legends on the origin of this festival and
the most strongly held legend is of the patriotic poet and minister Qu Yuan.
Qu Yuan was born on 340 BC lived during the Warring States
period in China (475 – 221 BC) where seven large and a number of smaller
kingdoms were vying for supremacy. Qu
Yuan was a minister for the state of Chu and opposed his King’s decision to
ally with the powerful kingdom of Qin. Qu Yuan was banished for his opposition to the alliance and accused of
treason. Qu Yuan spent the next 28 years in exile writing great works of poetry
that showed his love and passion for his country Chu.
In 221 BC when the Qin kingdom captured the Chu capital and
united China, Qu Yuan was in despair and committed suicide by drowning in a
river. The local fishermen who greatly admired Qu Yuan raced their boats to the
site of his suicide to either save him or retrieve his body. When the fishermen
could not find Qu Yuan’s body, they threw sticky balls of rice into the river
so the fish would eat the rice balls not Qu Yuan’s body. This fish feeding is
the origin of the Chinese dish zongzi.
Dragon Boat Festival Dates
Festival Date
|
Public Holidays
|
02 June 2014
|
31 May – 2 June
|
20 June 2015
|
20 June – 22 June
|
09 June 2016
|
9 June – 11 June
|
30 May 2017
|
28 May – 30 May
|
16 June 2018
|
16 June – 18 June
|
Customs
Dragon Boat Racing
A dragon boat is built in the shape of a traditional Chinese
dragon with a dragon’s head as the prow (front) of the boat and a dragon’s tail
as the stern (back) of the boat. The boats are normally over 10 meters long and
have a crew of 20 to 22 paddlers with a steer’s person at the back and a
drummer at the front.
Dragon boat racing is now an international sport and draws
teams from all over the world who compete in races that range from 200 meters
to 2000 meters in duration. You will not
find dragon boat racing in the north or north east of China e.g. Beijing and it
is most popular in southern cities like Guangzhou and especially Hong Kong.
Eating Zongzi
Zongzi or 粽子 is a bite sized dish were sticky or glutinous rice is
mixed with various fillings and traditionally wrapped in bamboo leaves. Zongzi
can be steamed or boiled and the steamed type normally tastes better.
In north and north east China zongzi have a tetrahedral or
pyramid shape while in the south of China zongzi is shaped like a long thin
cone. Like Jiaozi or dumplings making zongzi is traditionally a family event.
Tip for Dragon Boat Festival and Travel in China
Go to Hong Kong –
Even though the Dragon Boat festival is celebrated and enjoyed all over China,
the best place to celebrate this festival when travelling in China is Hong
Kong. In Hong Kong you can see international dragon boat teams racing on
Victoria harbour while the city comes to a virtual standstill for the celebrations
which are an awesome site.
Second choice would be one of the other Pearl River Delta
cities such as Guangzhou, Macau or Zhuhai that have a long history and passion
for dragon boat racing.
Try Different Types
of Zongzi – Zongzi has many different types of fillings that range form
salted duck eggs and Mung beans to BBQ pork and Chinese sausages. To fully
experience the pleasure of eating Zongzi, try eating as many different types as
you.
No comments:
Post a Comment