The Dragon Boat Festival
Tomorrow is the Dragon Boat Festival, one of China’s traditional festivities that started being an official holiday a few years ago. So tomorrow we don’t work! Yay!
This holiday has several traditions, the less well-known one is that this month is one of bad luck and people need to hang a branch made of several plants and a garlic head at their door. We did it last year, but this year my MIL was searching for the branch in the stores nearby and she couldn’t find any. She says downtown they’re everywhere. People are losing their traditions in this modern district!
The more popular traditions that everybody has heard about are the dragon boat races and the glutinous rice dumplings. I have always been a big fan of the rice dumplings (粽子) because I love sticky rice. There are many different fillings and can be sweet (usually with a red bean paste filling) or savoury (the most common savoury one has a meat filling). Between the rice dumplings that my MIL brought and the ones that C.’s company gifted him, I’m well stocked for a few months!
Ayis making rice dumplings.
In Suzhou, the dragon boat races are held very close to our apartment but I have only been to see them once (and I wrote a post about it here). I would like to go again but let’s be honest here, I don’t think it will happen because: 1) they are too early, 2) it’s usually very hot and 3) there are SO MANY PEOPLE. The time that I went I didn’t really see much of the races at all and I sweated like a pig. I also didn’t manage to take many pictures, so for this post I searched for the official pictures from other years to show you how the dragon boat races look like in Suzhou. All pictures are from the Suzhou Industrial Park government website.
What a polluted day this was… and look at the hordes of people on the right!
The dragon boats in the middle of a race. They row super fast!
Each boat has a drummer that sets the rhythm for the rowers.
The dragon heads from the boats.
This GIF is from Bendibao.com.
Apart from the races there is also an area with food and drink stalls. Of course! This part I’ve visited several times (because normally every year I say “I want to go see the dragon boat races” but by the time we arrive they’re over… the food stalls stay until the afternoon).
Happy Duanwu/Dragon Boat Festival!
Hooray for Dragon Boat Fest! So happy we get an extra day of holiday haha, I’m flying off to Taiwan for my long weekend!
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
I hope you had a great holiday!!
I loved watching the boat races in Siem Reap. They are fun, but a hot and sweaty affair for sure.
Interesting! Is it also a holiday in Cambodia, or was it organised by the Chinese community?
It’s part of the Cambodian water festival. It’s a pretty big deal. Assuming it’s part of the Chinese influence?
Garlic appears to be the universal warding agent–for vampires in western countries and bad luck in eastern countries.
Also wards off wives when husbands minces and eat too much of it.
I might be a vampire. I hate raw garlic!
The dragon heads are cool!
Erm, yes I often get places as all that’s left is the food trucks or it’s 10 hour to 0 minutes before closing. Hope you made it for the food!
Nay. We didn’t go in the end haha. But had Indian for dinner, at least…
I like the small GIF :)
I wish it was longer and the super fast movements were clearer xD
Our dragon boat practice is just starting up here in Chicago. I am planning to go one Sunday and give it a try. FUN to hear your story and see your beautiful photos!
You mean you want to try to row? Wow! It looks like a great exercise. I would die within 1 minute, haha.
Oh, I’ve rowed with them. They have the expert crew, that group is hard, but the beginner to intermediate is not hard at all. You should try it! It’s fun, I think there are 11 people to a boat, so you meat some nice people too.