Revellers and rowers gathered at waterways across Hong Kong on Monday morning to soak in the fun and festivities of the Dragon Boat festival.
Amid mild and slightly breezy weather, boat races took place at locations such as Sha Tin, Tuen Mun, Cheung Chau, Tai Po, Stanley, Aberdeen and Sai Kung as part of a ritual that has roots stretching back more than 2,000 years.
“The weather was good, and the water peaceful,” said Clarence Lee Yui-cheung, chairman of the Hong Kong Fireman Services Dragon Boat Team West Division, which clinched two of the major prizes in the Aberdeen races. “We come here every year, and every year our team wins.”
“Dragon boat racing has a rich history here and you’ve got to visit this event if you’re a part of Hong Kong,” said local Ray Chan, 38, who turned up at the Sai Kung waterfront, in the eastern New Territories, to catch a glimpse of the celebrations.
A total of 157 teams turned out for this year’s Sai Kung competition, which ranged from corporate races to contests for participants with intellectual disabilities.
For the first time there was a race for teenagers, which organisers said was aimed at training new blood and introducing the traditional pastime to a younger generation.
“The best thing about these events is teamwork,” said Jacky Cheung Yat-leung, executive vice-president of the preparatory committee for the Sai Kung races.
“We can bring the entire district together, from the district council to community NGOs to locals, to work on the same thing with a common goal.”
The atmosphere in Aberdeen on the south side of Hong Kong Island was just as festive.
The former fishing town hosted a total of 33 races, with 60 teams made up of everyone from local villagers and company employees to university students.
Crystal Kwok Chi-yu, a 32-year-old photographer, arrived just before 7am to secure a spot from which to capture the best shots. “This is my fourth year here. I love how lively and energised the photos of dragon boat races appear to be,” she said.
Chan Chung, a fisherman in his 60s watching the races from the stands, used to take part in his younger years.
“Back in the old days, every fisherman took part,” he said. “The whole village would join the games and then have dinner together at night.”
Nearby at Stanley Main Beach, the Sun Life Stanley International Dragon Boat Championships got under way at 8am with 264 teams made up of more than 6,000 rowers and 140 companies.
Winners included the Seagods Red for the Mixed Gold Cup Final and the DCH Dragon Boat Club for the Sun Life Gold Cup Final.
The Stanley races broke with tradition as many dressed up in costume to compete for the Most Outstanding Outfit Award. Pirates, clowns and spectators in face paint and colourful wigs crowded the beach.
The Spanish Dragons bagged the award with their synchronised swimmers’ outfits.
Fellow competitor Mark Chan Sze-wang from the Fair Dinkum Club, decked out in a lion costume, said: “We dress differently every year, depending on the theme, what’s trendy and how we feel at the time.” The team has raced in costumes for eight years, with this year’s theme being “animals”.
Joey Hau, who was in charge of the their costumes, said: “We came up with the idea when we were all drunk.”
Organisers also set up workshops with interactive games to raise awareness of the importance of protecting the local environment, mindful of the impact of large sporting events.
Alson Wong, chairman of the organising committee for the Stanley race, emphasised the importance of the new environmental approach this year.
“People have a good sense of duty,” he said. “There are many young people here, they love to enjoy their time and protect the environment.”
Advocacy group The Green Earth collaborated with Sun Life to set up seven recycling points manned by 80 volunteers. They were expected to collect about 10,000 plastic bottles and aluminium cans.
“We can see that the environmental awareness of the racers is pretty high. Some teams have their own recycling bags,” said Vivien Cheng Yu-wai, director of Green Earth’s community partnership.
In Aberdeen, Greeners Action was on hand to promote an environmental message.
Competitors were urged to bring their own water bottles and recycle lunch boxes and other items at temporary collection points.
Yip Chui-man, the NGO’s assistant project manager, said more than 50 volunteers had given up their time.
The group would monitor waste management for the Aberdeen event and provide the organiser with suggestions on how to improve next year, Yip said.
The annual festival, also known as the Tuen Ng festival, falls on the fifth day of the fifth month in the lunar calendar. Many Chinese also mark the occasion by eating rice dumplings and paying tribute to the ancient poet Qu Yuan from China’s Warring States period (475-221BC).
Legend has it that Qu, banished and disillusioned with the state of his government, threw himself into a river.
To stop the fish devouring his body, villagers took to their boats, splashing their paddles, beating drums and throwing rice, to ward off any and all in the water.
The Dragon Boat Festival 2018, otherwise known as the Duanwu in Mandarin and Tuen Ng in Cantonese occurring around the time of the summer solstice, has been marked in the Google Doodle for June 18, 2018.
The holiday that is observed across parts of Asia falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the traditional Chinese calendar and ushers in a new season which is celebrated with decorated dragon boats, dumplings and drumming.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Dragon Boat Festival, when it is, how to celebrate the festival, what zongzi are and how to make them.
Rowing enthusiasts participate in a dragon boat race in Hong Kong's Aberdeen Harbour
What is the Dragon Boat Festival?
The Dragon Boat Festival originates from China’s Warring States period during which conflict that lasted more than 2,000 years divided the country into several kingdoms.
The holiday commemorates Qu Yuan, a poet-official and royal adviser who was exiled after trying to warn the king of impending danger.
After being notified of the eventual invasion of China, Qu tried to drown himself in the Miluo River and although locals attempted to save him by paddling, beating drums to warn fish away from his body and tossing rice dumplings into the water as spiritual offerings.
When is the Dragon Boat Festival?
The Dragon Boat Festival is usually celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month in the traditional Chinese calendar and marks the summer solstice.
The Chinese tradition was reintroduced in 2008 after a hiatus following the Cultural Revolution between 1966 and 1976, when Chairman Mao Zedong banned traditions that were formed before his time.
In 2018, the Dragon Boat Festival will be celebrated on June 18, 2018 and is a public holiday in many parts of Asia like Hong Kong and Taiwan. It is also marked in Macao, Malaysia, Singapore and elsewhere.
Participants compete during a dragon boat race in Taipei, commemorating poet Qu Yuan
How to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival
In the run up to the festival, rowers partake in intensive training for weeks or even months before taking to the water in a canoe shaped like a giant dragon and racing to the finish line. Spectators will watch from the sidelines and eat traditional sticky rice dumplings called zongzi.
In the north, these dumplings are sweet and filled with a red bean paste or taro, while in the south, the dumplings are savory with cured pork belly, sausage and mushrooms inside.
Zongzi recipe
Kp Kwan shared her recipe for zongzi on Taste Asian Food and the version is popular among the Cantonese. Here are the steps:
1. Prepare the reed leaves or bamboo leaves that will be used to wrap the rice dumplings. While fresh leaves are the best to use, dry leaves are more common so they will need to be re-hydrated before use. Boil for 30 minutes and let the leaves soak in a pot overnight until they are dark green in colour.
2. Add a tablespoon of vegetable oil into the water to prevent the glutinous rice from sticking to the leaves when wrapping. Place a bowl on top of the leaves to stop them from floating and use a high heat to reach a boil before switching to a reduced heat for the 30 minutes. Wash the leaves and snip off three centimetres from the end of every leaf.
3. Cut the pork belly into 3 cm squares and marinate with soy sauce, sugar, Shaoxing wine, ground white pepper and salt overnight. Rinse the glutinous rice until the water is clear and after draining the water, mix with soy sauce and salt. Drain the water away and stir fry with vegetable oil briefly.
Rowing enthusiasts participate in a dragon boat race near Hong Kong's Aberdeen island
4. While groundnuts, mung beans and black eyed peas are common lentils used for zongzi, this recipe uses mung beans. Rinse and soak the beans for an hour before stir frying for a while. Remember to remove the skin of the mung beans.
5. Soak, clean and prepare the shiitake mushrooms, chestnuts, dried oysters, dried shrimps, salted duck egg yolk. Then use two leaves and place one slightly to the left, but on top of the other before folding them at the centre to form a cone. Fill the cone with rice first and then the egg yolk, pork belly, dry oyster, mung beans and mushroom before another layer of rice.
6. Close the cone, press firmly to get a tight seal and secure with twine. To cook the zongzi, you will need to boil the dumplings for six hours, making sure they are submerged for all that time.
What is a Google Doodle?
The Google Doodle for June 18, 2018 celebrates the Dragon Boat Festival 2018 with illustrations by Cynthia Yuan Cheng.
The Google Doodle for June 18, 2018 celebrates the Dragon Boat Festival 2018
Google Doodles are transformations of Google’s homepage logo in honour of events, holidays, people and accomplishments.
The first Google Doodle was created back in 1998 to commemorate the Burning Man festival.
Initially designed by Google co founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, they were later created by outside contractors until the company established its own dedicated in-house team known as Doodlers to create them on a regular basis.
Recent Google Doodles have celebrated the first day of the World Cup, Fureya Koral and Virginia Apgar.
Seated inside a canoe shaped like a giant mythical creature, rowers thrash their oars into the sea, racing to the beat of a drumming captain. Monday’s colorful Google Doodle celebrates the Dragon Boat Festival, a holiday observed across parts of Asia and beyond with elaborately decorated vessels, delicious dumplings and offerings.
Also known as Duanwu in Mandarin and Tuen Ng in Cantonese, the festival falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the traditional Chinese calendar and marking the summer solstice, ushering in a new season of health and well-being.
Why do people celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival?
As legend has it, the holiday commemorates an exiled Chinese poet-official named Qu Yuan who is believed to have committed suicide. During China’s Warring States period, an era of division and conflict more than 2,000 years ago, China was divided into several kingdoms. Qu, a royal adviser in the state of Chu, tried warn the king of impending danger, only to be exiled. When Qu heard of the eventual invasion into his country, he drowned himself in despair in the Miluo River. In a bid to save him, locals paddled frantically through the water, beating drums to warn fish away from his body and tossing rice dumplings into the water as spiritual offerings. These rituals inspired the most popular holiday traditions today.
June 18th marks the beginning of the Dragon Boat Festival. Google Doodle
How is the festival observed?
Rowers train for weeks, sometimes months, in the lead-up to the festival, when they load up on boats and race to a watery finish line. Others often sit on the sidelines and enjoy traditional sticky rice dumplings called zongzi. Wrapped in bamboo or lotus leaves, the rice is mixed with flavors that vary by region. In northern China, zongzi are typically sweet, filled with a red bean paste or taro. In the south, they’re usually made savory with cured pork belly, sausage and mushrooms. In Taiwan, some are made with salted eggs, peanuts, chestnuts and squid.
Where do people celebrate?
While the Dragon Boat race is a longstanding Chinese tradition, China only reintroduced the holiday in 2008 after a major hiatus following the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), when Chairman Mao Zedong banned many cultural traditions that predated his New China. Today, the Dragon Boat Festival is a public holiday in many parts of Asia, including Hong Kong and Taiwan, while traditions are also observed in Macao, Malaysia, Singapore and elsewhere.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-06-18 19:07:23|Editor: Lu Hui
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People take part in a dragon boat race to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival at Nanhu Park in Huaibei City, east China's Anhui Province, June 18, 2018. Dragon boat race is a traditional event for the Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, or June 18 this year. (Xinhua/Wan Shanchao)
BEIJING, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Athletes on two dragon boats paddled vigorously through a paddy field in unison to the beat of drums, covering a distance of 100 meters before reaching the finish line.
This dragon boat race was held by members of Xibe ethnic group in a township in northeast China's Liaoning Province to mark the Dragon Boat Festival which falls on Monday this year.
The festival, also called the Duanwu Festival, is traditionally celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month on Chinese lunar calendar.
"Paddling in the mud consumes more energy than in the river. It's tiring but also very interesting," an athlete said.
Liu Chunli, researcher with a Shenyang-based institute on the Xibe ethnic group, said that Xibe people pick a handful of young crops at a worship ceremony and hang a ball-shaped bundle of red ribbons on the dragon's head, praying for a good harvest.
The athletes are either local villagers or tourists. "I've seen lots of dragon boat races on the river or lake, but it is my first time to see the boats on the mud," said Zhang Yun, a tourist from Shenyang.
Chinese get a three-day break from work on the holiday, and many like Zhang choose to travel.
It puts pressure on transport infrastructure. China will see 47 million trips made by rail from Friday to Monday, said state-owned railway operator China Railway. Daily trips are expected to hit 11.75 million, a year-on-year increase of 7.8 percent.
Cities such as Beijing, Dalian, Qingdao, Hangzhou, and Xiamen are among the most popular destinations and departure locations, the company said.
On the first day of the holiday alone, 26 tourist attractions in central China's Hubei Province received more than 540,000 visitors and revenue of 36 million yuan (5.6 million U.S. dollars) in tickets, up 10.8 percent and 10.2 percent respectively year on year.
Various activities ranging from knowledge contests, zongzi-making competitions to temple fairs are being held across the country.
Traditions such as eating zongzi, glutinous rice dumplings with various fillings wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves, are observed on the holiday.
Zhou Fang, a resident in Wuhan, Hubei Province, purchased two boxes of zongzi online. Eating zongzi during the Dragon Boat Festival is a tradition in his family.
"In the past, I had to wait in a long queue at the store to buy them. Now, I just tap my phone and they are delivered to my door," said Zhou.
The Dragon Boat Festival commemorates the death of Qu Yuan (340-278 B.C.), a well-known Chinese poet and minister of the State of Chu during the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.)
He drowned himself in the Miluo River after he was banished and accused of treason for his well-intended advice to the king.
Legend has it that upon learning of his death, locals raced boats to find his body in the river and dropped rice in the water in the hope that it would distract fish from eating the body.
On Monday, China Post held a ceremony in Hubei's Zigui County to mark the issuing of a set of stamps commemorating Qu. The set of two stamps, together with a sheetlet, has a total face value of 8.4 yuan.
China Post has previously issued stamps related to Qu Yuan in 1953 and 1994.
Zhao Yuguang, deputy general manager of China Post's Hubei branch, said that it is rare for ancient Chinese figures to be printed on stamps more than once and this shows people's respect of Qu's patriotism and noble personality.
