Because of the close relationships between audience members and participants, the atmosphere during these local races can be particularly exuberant. In addition to competitive races, the festival also includes various cultural activities such as concerts and has become a massive event in the city's social calendar that both locals and tourists flock to each year. Zongzi appeared before the Spring and Autumn Period and was originally used to worship ancestors and gods; in the Jin Dynasty, Zongzi became a festive food for the Dragon Boat Festival. These special pouches are filled with aromatic herbs and spices such as cloves, cinnamon, star anise, and more. Chinese people call the Dragon Boat Festival - Dun W Ji | . It takes place every year between May 27 and June 25 on the 5th day of the 5th month of the lunar calendar. In some areas, people participate in dragon boat races by taking part in other activities like dragon boat drumming or by eating traditional foods like zongzi (a type of dumpling) during the races. So glad that this is a helpful resource for you, Essie! SPORTS In Queens, an Annual Dragon Boat Festival Brings Cultures Together. The Dragon Boat Festival - Dec 2021 Christmas - Dec 2021 1. Dragon boat racing has a rich history of ancient ceremonial and ritualistic traditions, which originated in southern central China more than 2500 years ago. Dragon Boat Festival, also called Duanwu Jie (, together with Spring Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, is one of the most important festivals in China. Generally, the holiday falls anywhere from the end of May to the end of June according to the Gregorian calendar (, yngl). An immersive weekend of fun is back in South Florida for the 32nd year in a row at . Dragon boat racing is increasingly popular in cities around the world. Jin Dynasty, dumplings were officially designated as the Dragon Boat Festival food. Do you Really happy to hear that, Jenny. stories, insider information, and even create unexpected highlights! It has grown from a small neighborhood event to the largest Chinese American cultural event in New England, drawing more than 20,000 participants and spectators annually. Live dragon boat races can be seen on most major bodies of water in China during the festival. [19][20], Dragon Boat Festival is unofficially observed by the Chinese communities of Southeast Asia, including Singapore and Malaysia. Numerous six-member teams will compete in a series of physical tasks and mental challenges in the virtual competition, which is set to be launched on Saturday, June 27. 180. Contact us via WeChat: chinahighlightstour, the story behind the Dragon Boat Festival, The Hong Kong Tuen Ng Dragon Boat Festival 2023. Unable to find him and worried that fish would eat his body, they threw balls of sticky rice into the river in hopes that the fish would choose the rice over Qu Yuan. This traditional Chinese event is known as the Dragon Boat Festival, or Longzhou Jie in Chinese, due to its strong ties to dragon boats. However, in the weeks leading up to the Dragon Boat Festival, zngzi suddenly become available everywhere. Yu Der Ling writes in chapter 11 of her 1911 memoir Two Years in the Forbidden City: The first day of the fifth moon was a busy day for us all, as from the first to the fifth of the fifth moon was the festival of five poisonous insects, which I will explain lateralso called the Dragon Boat Festival. The English language name for the holiday is Dragon Boat Festival, used as the official English translation of the holiday by the People's Republic of China. . Many Asian countries, such as Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Vietnam, also celebrate the festival with various activities and customs influenced by traditional Chinese culture. Enjoy your personal local guide and ride. Spring Lantern Festival - February 5, 2023. It falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month . Zongziare made differently in different areas of China.People in the north enjoy zongziwith dates, while people in the south prefer mixed ingredients, such as meat, sausages, and eggs.This custom is not only very popular in China, it is also practiced in Korea, Japan, and other countries in Southeast Asia. The focus of most Dragon Boat Festival celebrations involves eating zhongzi, drinking realgar wine, and racing dragon boats. DONATE Celebrate! [2] It is also referred to in some English sources as Double Fifth Festival which alludes to the date as in the original Chinese name. . Northern regions in China prefer sweet or dessert-styled zongzi, with bean paste, jujube, and nuts as fillings. Jie means festival. In some regions of China, parents braid silk threads of 5 colors and put them on their children's wrists, on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival. June 14th 2021 - Dragon Boat Festival. and pass them out as gifts, receive them, and eat them. [3], Duanwu (Chinese: ; pinyin: dunw), as the festival is called in Mandarin Chinese, literally means "starting/opening horse", i.e., the first "horse day" (according to the Chinese zodiac/Chinese calendar system) to occur on the month;[4][a] however, despite the literal meaning being w, "the [day of the] horse in the animal cycle", this character has also been interchangeably construed as w (Chinese: ; pinyin: w) meaning "five". During World War II, Qu Yuan began to be treated in a nationalist way as "China's first patriotic poet". In addition to the drummer, there is also a steerer who sits in the back of the boat and helps to steer it using a long steering oar. Dragon boat racing is the central activity of the festival and is often held in large bodies of water such as rivers or lakes. Dragon boat teams from around the world participate in the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Carnival in south China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, June 22, 2018. , Special Administrative Region of Macao. The original tradition has grown to be a popular sport in the U.S. with more than 400 professional dragon boat teams nationwide, according to the United States Dragon Boat Federation. Dragon Boat . How Do People Celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival? ", Special Administrative Region of Macao. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. It is an importanttradition for the Chinese to eat zongzi(traditional Chinese sticky rice dumplings, eachwrapped in bamboo leaves)during the Dragon Boat Festival. Read More . [7], The Mandarin Chinese name of the festival is "" (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: Dunwji; WadeGiles: Tuan Wu chieh)[b] in Mainland China and Taiwan,[8][6][9] and "Tuen Ng Festival" for Hong Kong, Macao,[10] Malaysia and Singapore. Its also common to eat delicious snacks and desserts during the festival, such as sweet rice balls with red bean paste and steamed puffed yams. Have unparalleled Established in 1979, the Boston Dragon Boat Festival is the first and oldest such festival in North America. Children wear a lucky charm weaved out ofcolorful silk threads(like activity 7 above). These special pouches are filled with aromatic herbs and spices such as cloves, cinnamon, star anise, and more. The Duanwu Festival was noted for its two most important activities, racing dragon boats and eating Zongzi. Go Inside China's Lively Dragon Boat Festival Celebrations. The Dragon Boat Festival is commemorated on the fifth lunar month fifth day. /VCG. In modern times, the most popular story explaining the origins of the Dragon Boat Festival concerns the death of Qu Yuan (, Q Yun), a poet of the Warring States period (approx. In this beautifully illustrated book, children aged 2 to 6 will follow Ying and Han as their family prepares for and celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival. During his time in exile, Qu Yuan had become quite popular with the local people. There are usually many activities held during the festival., Every year when Dragon Boat Festival comes, in many Chinese cities there will be dragon boat racing. TRAVEL A Year in Beijing in . This year the celebration falls on June 25. Mark Your Calendars The, Dragon Boat Festival: A Guide To Celebrating It, Dragon boat festival is a traditional festival celebrated by the Chinese. Let's take a look at the Dragon Boat Festival celebration. Names. Established in 1979, the celebration is the first and oldest dragon boat festival in North America. In China, the Dragon Boat Festival is referred to as Duan Wu Jie. This traditional holiday, also called the Double Fifth festival, is celebrated on the 5th day of the 5th month of the Chinese lunar calendar (called or nngl in Chinese). In 2004 the Dragon Boat Festival was elevated to a national holiday in China. The promotion of these stories might be encouraged by Confucian scholars, seeking to legitimize and strengthen their influence in China. On the annual Dragon Boat Festival, Singaporeans also have the custom of racing dragon boats and eating rice dumplings (bakzhang). Influenced by Chinese culture, South Korea, Japan and other countries in Southeast Asia developed their own versionsof the Dragon Boat Festival, along with some unique customs. Kashiwa-mochi, sticky rice cakes filled with red bean jam and wrapped in oak leaves, and chimaki, sticky sweet rice wrapped in an iris or bamboo leaf, are popular traditional food served during the festival. Races typically start at sunrise and can last for several hours, with spectators cheering on their favorite teams. Some modern research suggests that the stories of Qu Yuan or Wu Zixu were superimposed onto a pre-existing holiday tradition. This festival commemorates Qu Yuan, a famous Chinese poet and official who committed suicide by drowning himself in the Yi River as a form of protest against corruption and tyranny by the emperor of China, Houfei. . Follow along with this tutorial and learn to make a classic rice dumpling filled with pork, peanuts, sausage and mung beans. These dumplings are made with sticky rice, meat, and vegetables and can be steamed or boiled. The Chinese event has been celebrated for over 2,000 years, believed to prevent disease and invoke good health. Use our directory to find a race near you. Dragon boats are long and thin. The leaves also give a special aroma and flavor to the sticky rice and fillings. A popular origin story is again about Qu Yuan. One of China's major traditional festivals, the Dragon Boat Festival has been celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar for millennia. It originated traditionally to remember the patriot poet Qu Yuan ( ( c. 340-278 BC)), who drowned himself in the Milou River more than 2000 years ago. How is the Dragon Boat Festival celebrated around the world? The sun, like the Chinese dragon, traditionally represents masculine energy, whereas the moon, like the phoenix, traditionally represents feminine energy. Activities, Lunar New Year Festival Starts today at Disney's California Adventure. Time for Dragon Boat Race This 20th celebration. We offer community a time to celebrate . Join Colorado's annual celebration of Asian and Asian American heritage with the biggest Dragon Boat Festival in the US! In ancient China, the fifth lunar month was associated with the emergence of five types of poisonous animals. Legend has it that a famous poet named . The event, which was revived after the pandemic stymied in-person efforts for two years, drew . Although the Dragon Boat Festival has a long history, it has not always found favor with the Chinese authorities. including the traditional annual Dragon Boat Festival, which is . 'Wu' () in the name 'Duanwu' in Chinese has a similar pronunciation as the number 5 in multiple dialects, and thus many regions have traditions of eating food that is related to the number 5. He served faithfully as a government official in the State of Chu for some time. The use of the lunar calendar to set the festivals date means that it is celebrated at a different time every year. Learning about these traditional festivals is a fun and interesting way to enrich your understanding of Chinese culture. After the great poet Qu Yuan drownedhimself in theriver, people scattered rice into the water to feed the fish, to prevent them from eating Qu Yuan's body. Significance of the Dragon Boat Festival Duanwu Jie is a widely celebrated holiday for the Chinese community-immigrants and non-immigrants in New York. If you want to try zngzi at most times of the year, you will likely be hard-pressed to find any. While the festival is still commonly celebrated by the Chinese today, it has also spread to other countries, like Singapore and Vietnam. Charles River near Weeks Footbridge June 9, 2019 [15] A cadet member of the Chu royal house, Qu served in high offices. 1. The legend starts with the story of Qu Yuan, who was a minister in one of the Warring State governments, Chu. Since 2001, the dragon boat festival has raised more than $3.9 million to support cancer screening technology, diagnosis and treatment at the Peterborough Regional Health Centre. A legendary figure One of the most enduring legends associated with this celebration tells the story of Qu Yuan, an incorruptible minister of state during the Warring States era of China. Schedules, Train App Hungry Ghost Festival in China History, Tradition, Celebration, & More. Two prevailing stories are often cited to explain the origin of this age-old holiday. 475 to 221 BC). In ancient times, people believed that realgar was an antidote for all poisons, and effective for killing insects and driving away evil spirits. In addition to the threat posed by the reemergence of poisonous animals, it was also believed that people were more prone to falling ill around this time. In Chinese culture, the tiger represents the masculine principle in nature and is the king of all the animals.. Every year, the dragon boat festival is observed on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. According to this explanation, the custom is thought to have originated in southern Chinas Guangdong Province along the Pearl River Delta. 1. Although Wu Zixu is commemorated in southeast Jiangsu and Qu Yuan elsewhere in China, much of Northeastern Zhejiang including the cities of Shaoxing, Ningbo and Zhoushan celebrates the memory of the young girl Cao E (; AD 130144) instead. With the longest history of Korea's local festivals, the Danoje sees locals hold a series of activities such as throwing pots, wrestling, swinging, taekwondo competitions, and college football matches to help pray for a good harvest, health and happiness. But why is the dragon boat festival so important? China Highlights uses cookies to give you the best possible service. Most dragon boat racing teams include a drummer who helps the rowers stay in sync. Savory zngzi might be stuffed with salted egg yolks, pork or mushrooms. The Boat festival is celebrated throughout China, but the traditions vary from region to region. Every year the Foshan City of the Guangdong Province will hold different kinds of activities to celebrate Dragon Boat Festival in different districts. Other people celebrate the festival by participating in cultural activities, spending time with family and friends, or by watching the races from shore. People believed that natural disasters and illnesses are common in the fifth month. Another theory, advanced by Wen Yiduo, is that the Dragon Boat Festival originated from dragon worship. Hi! The Shun River was renamed Cao'e River in her honor.[16]. of China with those looking for a more authentic travel experience. Realgar is a traditional Chinese medicine. With our expert travel guides, you can be sure to make the most of your trip. 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