Even though there is one week of school left, a day of was much appreciated. This vacation is dragon boat day and is a national holiday. I had a wonderful day!
So what is dragon boat day? The Story of how dragon boat day came to be is:
Dragon Boat Festival, aka ‘Duanwujie’ (端午节), commemorates the life and death of the famous scholar and poet Qu Yuan, who lived during the Warring States period of the Zhou Dynasty in around 300 BC. The festival falls on the fifth day of the fifth month on the Chinese lunar calendar.
According to Chinese folklore, Qu contributed a lot to society while serving in high offices. He fell out of favor with the emperor after others spread rumors of him, was accused of treason and eventually sent into exile. During his time in exile, Qu wrote a lot of poetry. Unappreciated and unhappy, he drowned himself in the Miluo river on May 5 of the lunar calendar in 278 BC after the Qin state captured the Chu capital of Ying.
According to legend, the local villagers highly admired Qu. In an attempt to save him, or at least find his body, they raced out onto the river in boats – which is said to be the origin of dragon boat races.
Legend has it that packets of rice were thrown into the river to prevent the fish from eating Qu’s body. Gradually, people took to eating ‘zongzi’ (粽子), glutinous rice with different fillings wrapped in bamboo leaves, around this time each year. Zongzi can either be sweet or savory.
I spent the day with my friends searching for dragon boats along the river. There are multiple places where events were occurring in Guangzhou and we chose to start close to the apartments.
Along the river there was much activity with many boats in the water. The drums on the boat keep the beat for everyone to paddle together.
It was very hot outside and very humid. It was very tiring out in the sun. We started out at Ersha Island walking around the island.
We then walked up the river to Liede. Along the way we spotted this street barrier. It was so absurd we had to take a picture.
The statue even had its own umbrella.
At Liede there were many boats in the canal. Most of these boats are stored in the mud through the year and dug out just prior to the festival.
Along the way we appreciated the flowers.
We also saw some fruit trees. This is a rose apple and actually has a perfume taste.
In Liede, buildings were constructed in the old style. Many are restaurants.
We then sought refuge from the heat in a nearby mall (IGC). We ate at Grandmother’s Kitchen. It was fabulous food. We ate Mandarin fish, vegetables, and chrysanthemum tea. That tea is great for cooling down the body on a hot day.
At this restaurant is a large steamer basket. I have not seen one so big.
More pictures of boats on our way home.
To cool down, a dip in the pool was required.
There are more activities throughout the weekend.