Everything you need to know about Dragon Boat Festival

All you need to know about China's annual festival

Also known as Duanwujie, Dragon Boat Festival is a holiday of eating sticky rice dumplings, drinking realgar wine (a mix of huangjiu and regular minerals) and racing (or watching) dragon-shaped boats. Plus most importantly, we get a three-day holiday. Whoop whoop. This year the holiday period runs from Saturday 16-Monday 18 June, with Double Fifth day itself falling on the Monday 18.

The story

Now celebrated worldwide, Dragon Boat Festival’s humble origins date back to southern China over 2,000 years ago. As with all great legends, the facts are largely contested, vary from region to region and come heavily embellished. One of the best-known stories holds that Dragon Boat Festival commemorates celebrated poet and minister, Qu Yuan (343-278 BC).

The story goes that Qu was betrayed by officials, accused of treason and exiled from the kingdom. After whiling away years in exile, Qu threw himself in a river as a form of protest against the corruption of the time. (He dead.) Upon hearing the tragic news, villagers loyal to Qu went in search of his body, splashing their paddles, banging drums and throwing sticky rice balls into the water in an attempt to keep the fish well away from his body. Hence today, dragon boat races and the rice-heavy snack zongzi.

Where to watch the races

They might not be real dragons, but it doesn't make the races any less fiery. The most central location to catch some races is Houhai – aka the home of the Beijing International Dragon Boat Racing Team. Most years, you can also spectate at Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park, Taoranting, Beihai or Jingshan parks. Details haven't yet been confirmed, but past years have seen sports, artistic performances and more fleshing out the ubiquitous boat races.

Dragon Boat Festival traditions

If heading to the races and squeezing in with everyone else is too much like work, celebrate the festival by eating the iconic zongzi. Like mooncakes for Mid-Autumn Festival (but tastier and not re-gifted as often), this is the traditional snack for Dragon Boat Festival.

While countless regional variations exist, the foundation of these 'sticky rice dumplings' is glutinous rice packed around a savoury or sweet filling like pork belly or red bean, then wrapped with bamboo leaves. Though available all-year-round, in the weeks leading up to the festival you'll see an increase in street stall steamers full of the pyramid-shaped treat, and all the five-star hotels offer ultra-luxe gift baskets.

What's on the boat?

Dragon's head

Ah! The auspicious dragon. Dragons are obviously popular in Chinese culture, and understandably so: they're symbolic of power and strength and they’re masters of the water – as well as just about everything else. In dragon boat racing, the dragon’s head is more of a ceremonial adornment, added for festivals. Before the race begins, the dragon's eyes are dotted with lucky red paint, to symbolise the dragon coming to life.

Drummer

A key player in the race, the drummer is essentially the pulse, riding in prime position at the front of the boat. He or she overlooks the paddlers and maintains a steady drumbeat to help paddlers keep the pace and stay in sync.

Paddlers

Depending on the size of the boat, the crew is usually made up of ten to 20 paddlers, sitting in two rows, paddling in unison to propel the boat through the water under the watchful eyes of the steersperson and drummer. Not to be confused with rowers, paddlers face forwards and use paddles, not oars, obviously. Paddlers at the front of the boat set the pace, while paddlers at the back are used for strength to keep the speed up, especially in faster waters. And paddlers wouldn't be much without...

Paddles

Some people say that the paddles are symbolic of the dragon's claws, wading through the water. Different from oars, paddles are not connected to the boat in any way and are in total control of the paddler.

Steersperson

No surprises here, the steersperson is in charge of steering during the course of the race, using the sweep oar. As the only one who can really see what's going on outside the boat, it's also the job of the steersperson to alert the crew to any signs of danger or potential collisions. So no pressure or anything.

Illustrations by Jinna Kaneko

To read about the time we tried dragon boating ourselves, hit 'Read more'.

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