The Dragon Boat Festival is a special Chinese festival which looks very cheerful. On that day, people in Guangzhou will hold Dragon Boat race in the Pearl River and compete the champion with great passion. The audience on the shore will make Zongzi while cheering for the players.
They will throw Zongzi into the river to feed the fish.
Why?
As we all know, in Chinese ancient time, there was a famous patriotic poet named Qu Yuan. He wanted to contribute himself to mother land prosperity and made a lot of effort. But there were different obstructions always in front of him. He felt so upset and jumped into the Mi Luo River. The local people went boating to save him and throw Zongzi made of sticky rice and meat with lotus leaf packed outside to feed the fish. They thought this could make the fish not bite the Qu Yuan’s body.
Chinese people adore Dragon so they make the boat thin and long with a dragon head, which make the boat looks like a real Dragon. They bury the Dragon Boat into the mud under the river which can protect the wooden boat for very long time. Before every 5th May of Chinese Lunar calendar, people will dig the Dragon Boats out of the mud and race. In 2009, China successfully applied the Dragon Boat Festival as Intangible Cultural Heritage.
That’s why today I am proud to introduce this festival to you all. This year the festival is at 14th June, which is coming soon. I can’t wait to see the wonderful Dragon Boat race and taste the delicious Zongzi.
