Chinese Festivals

Dragon Boat Festival

Dragon Boat Festival is held on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. It commemorates the death of a Chinese national hero, Qu Yuan, who lived in the third century BC. He protested against the corrupt government and he tried his best to advise the king. But he failed and he was dismissed from his post. He was so despair that he sat alongside a river to compose his most beautiful poem to summarize himself and after that, he drowned himself in the river. In order to prevent fish from eating his body, people threw rice dumplings into the water so that fish could eat rice dumplings instead of his body. Also they beat drums to scare fish away. Today, people eat special dumplings made of meat, rice and wrapped with bamboo leaves during this festival. They also hold dragon boat races. These spectacular races are held in June in many bays in Hong Kong. Some international teams will participate in these races.