A Unique Dragon Boat Fesitval in China
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Have you eaten Zongzi (Chinese rice dumpling)? Dragon Boat Festival is coming, so have a nice trip during holidays and enjoy these best delicacies.
A Unique Dragon Boat Fesitval in China
I. About Dragon Boat Festival
The Dragon Boat Festival, also often known as the Tuen Ng or Duanwu Festival, is a traditional and statutory holiday originating in China.
The festival now occurs on the 5th day of the 5th month of the traditional lunar calendar, the source of its alternative name, the Double Fifth Festival. The Chinese calendar is lunisolar, so the date varies from year to year on theGregorian calendar. In 2012, it fell on June 23; in 2013, on June 12; and in 2014, it occurred on June 2. The focus of most celebrations involves eating zongzi (sticky rice treats wrapped in bamboo leaves), drinking realgar wine, and racing dragon boats.
The sun is considered to be at its strongest around the time of summer solstice, as the daylight in the northern hemisphere is the longest. The sun, like the Chinese dragon, traditionally represents masculine energy, whereas the moon, like the phoenix, traditionally represents feminine energy. The summer solstice is considered the annual peak of male energy while the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, represents the annual peak of feminine energy. The masculine image of the dragon was thus naturally associated with Duanwu.
II. International Students Compete in Duanwu Festival Boat Race
Dragon boat races are a beloved traditional Chinese event celebrated in many places around the world during China's annual Dragon Boat, or Duanwu Festival. In Shanghai, foreign students from local universities gather at Tonghai Lake in East China University of Science and Technology to participate in an annual foreign students' dragon boat race.
"Through this race foreigners are able to experience traditional Chinese culture, enhance their friendships and achieve positive effects," said Song Lai, vice Party secretary of East China University of Science and Technology.
Last Sunday, teams from 32 universities returned for the ninth annual dragon boat race, making it the largest ever. The Global Times spoke with some teams about their "secret weapons."
Ahmed Al-Balaghi is a contestant from Fudan University. He has been studying Chinese since September and found out about this race through his language partners. He joined the 30-member team two months ago.
"It's the technique that I think is the hardest. At the beginning it is a bit tough mastering the technique, but it becomes really fun and enjoyable," Al-Balaghi told the Global Times.
Al-Balaghi's team trains four times per week, including paddling sessions and body workouts. Their "secret" strategy is to save their best player until the final round.
Dennis Acquah from Ghana studies at Shanghai Maritime University, whose team was last year's champions. This was their fifth time competing, which they have won three times out of four.
Acquah said the Shanghai Maritime University campus gives them an advantage over other teams. "In our campus there is a pool here, so that we can practice a lot," he said.
As the team's drummer, Acquah's role is to make sure that the team stays coordinated and that nobody goes off beat.
East China Normal University ranked fourth place last year, however two years ago they were champions. Their secret weapon, team leader Youssef Redjeb from Tunisia told the Global Times, is their paddles, which are made from carbon.
"This year we decided to invest a little bit more in our team. We demanded carbon paddles because they are very light and could help us," Redjeb said.
It turns out that Redjeb was right. After a close competition, this year's gold went to East China Normal University, followed closely by Fudan University and Shanghai Maritime University.
Foreign students from 32 universities in Shanghai compete in this year's dragon boat race Sunday
III. Delicacies for the Festival
Zongzi
Zongzi are to the Dragon Boat Festival what eggs are to Easter or roses to Valentine's Day.
The first bamboo-wrapped sticky rice dumplings were probably made with plain rice, but these dumplings soon developed into regional specialties. The main ingredient is glutinous rice, which holds its shape after cooking and keeps well in the summer heat. Millet, whole wheat grains, barley, red beans, mung beans or peanuts are also mixed into the rice to make it tastier.
In South China, glutinous rice is also soaked in an alkaline solution that turns the grains yellow, and the process creates a chewy texture. These are jianshui zongzi, which are always eaten dipped into old-fashioned granulated sugar.
Apart from that, the folks in the southern coastal provinces prefer their rice dumplings savory rather than sweet, and the salted dumplings are filled with beans, pork and mushrooms.
Sometimes the rice is fried and seasoned with soy sauce to add fragrance and color. In Guangdong province, the dumplings get bigger and are shaped almost like miniature pillows, filled with five-spice coated fatty pork and plenty of mung beans cooked inside the rice. Often, traditional cooks also add a whole salted egg yolk.
In Beijing and other northern provinces, the preference is for sweet dumplings, filled with sugary red-bean paste. One of the most popular versions is a red bean and rice dumpling, with or without its ball of bean paste filling.
Other ingredients may include fragrant osmanthus flowers, lotus seed paste, walnuts, jujubes, melon seeds or sesame.
It is not just the flavors that vary from region to region. The dumplings come in different shapes as well.
The simplest dumplings are triangular, made with a single large bamboo leaf and simply folded over.
A more traditional shape is the perfect pyramid, with four corners. This is the dumpling that takes the most skill to make. Even if you get the shape right, the challenge is in how to tie it properly so it does not disintegrate in the boiling pot during the long cooking period.
Realgar Wine
There is an old saying: 'Drinking realgar wine drives diseases and evils away!' Realgar wine, or xionghuangjiu, is a Chinese alcoholic drink consisting of fermented cereals and powdered realgar.
In ancient times, people believed that realgar was an antidote for all poisons, and effective for killing insects and driving away evil spirits. So everyone would drink some realgar wine during the Dragon Boat Festival, or Duanwu.
In the popular fairy tale of the Lady White Snake, a 1,000-year-old reptile takes on human form and falls in love with a poor but good-looking herbalist. She marries him and helps him develop his practice into a successful venture. But instigated by an unbendingly righteous monk, he forces her to drink realgar wine on Duanwu and she reverts to her original form, thus scaring him to death.
Despite his ingratitude, she goes on to offend the deities by stealing a magic herb to save him and ends up being captured and imprisoned under a pagoda on the banks of West Lake after giving birth to his child.
Eggs Steamed with Tea & Garlic & Salted Duck Eggs
It is a custom for people in Central China's Nanchang region to eat eggs boiled with tea at Dragon Boat Festival.
The shells of the boiled eggs are then dyed red, put into colorful net bags, and hung round children's necks, which is believed to bring them good luck.
In the rural areas in Central China's Henan province and East China's Zhejiang province, people eat eggs with garlic on Dragon Boat Festival. Eggs are steamed with garlic and then shared with families as breakfast. Eating eggs with garlic is believed to promote health.
The salted duck eggs have a soft briny smell, a very liquid egg white and a firm-textured, orange-red round yolk that looks like the crab cream. Tradition has it that it is good to eat salted duck eggs during the Dragon Boat Festival as the burning summer is coming. The salted duck eggs are nutrient-rich and have some effect on the treatment of heat stroke.
Dagao - Glutinous Rice Cake
Glutinous rice cakes are eaten by the Korean ethnic group, who live in Yanbian prefecture in Northeast China's Jilin province. Served with honey or sugar, it tastes delicious and chewy.
Eel
The custom of eating eel on Dragon Boat Festival day prevails in central China's Wuhan region. Eels are probably eaten simply because they are in season during the festival, fatty and tender, and rich in nutrition.
Jiandui - Fried Cake
Jiandui is a kind of fried round cake made of wheat and rice flour and something to sweeten them. In East China's Fujian province, every family eats jiandui on Dragon Boat Festival.
A legend explains this custom. It is said that the area enters its rainy season during Dragon Boat Festival. People believed there were holes in the sky which, if not filled, would allow the rain to continue indefinitely. Eating jiandui is said to help mend the sky and fill the holes.
Pancake
In East China's Wenzhou area, every family eats a kind of thin pancake at Dragon Boat Festival.
The pancake is made of refined white wheat flour fried in a flat frying pan. When the cake becomes very thin and translucent, as thin as a piece of silk as the locals describe it, it is done. Green bean sprouts, leek, shredded meat, and mushrooms are then placed on the pancake, which is then rolled up and eaten as a wrap.
Mianshanzi
Mianshanzi is a kind of wheat flour food made in a fan shape. The custom of eating mianshanzi on the Dragon Boat Festival mainly prevails in Minqin county in Northwest China's Gansu province.
This fan-shaped food is made up of five multi-colored layers, with each layer covered with fried sprinkles of pepper powder. The layers are pinched into a variety of patterns to make it appealing to eyes. This dietary custom is said to be trace back to the tradition of making and selling fans during Duanwu Festival in ancient times.
(The End.)