Welcome to this edition of China Lifestyle Journeys, the series that brings you chats, discussions and insights on all aspects of Chinese living. We will cover festivals, food, traditions, customs and much, much more. I’m your host Jocelyn … and I’m Mat, just an English guy with lots of questions.
So, Mat, what’s your big question today?
(Mat) 
Hello and welcome back once again to another episode. Today we’re talking about the Dragon Boat Festival, a traditional holiday celebrated in China. Now, I can remember when I first came to China, I heard people talking about this festival and I remember thinking, what is this festival? Is it about a dragon in a boat? Is it a dragon and a boat or is it a boat in the style of a dragon? So, Jocelyn, can you answer this first question for me.
(Jocelyn) 
Yes, the Dragon Boat Festival, or Duānwǔjié, actually takes its name from special type of boat related to the festival. It’s long thin boat that looks like a dragon when it’s moving through the water. So that gives us the name dragon boat festival.
(Mat) 
So it’s a festival about boats, named after a type of boat? That doesn’t sound very traditional, surely there’s more to the story than a boat that looks like a dragon.
(Jocelyn) 
Yeah of course there is, let me tell you the rest of the story. So, let’s start with the basics. The holiday is celebrated on the 5th day of the 5th month of the Chinese lunar calendar (remember – the lunar calendar is not directly mapped to the Western calendar – and the dates move around a bit each year. The date is usually somewhere around late May or in June. It's a public holiday in China and is one of the most widely celebrated festivals in the year. The festival has a long history dating back over 2,000 years, and it's traditionally been a time to honour the memory of a famous Chinese poet named Qu Yuan.
(Mat) 
Ah so it’s about a poet. Not about a boat. Or maybe it’s about a poet who had a boat and wrote poems about boating?
(Jocelyn) 
Okay, well that’s a good guess, but no, not really. Qu Yuan was a poet and politician who lived in ancient China during the Warring States period. He was a loyal patriot who was very vocal and active about creating a better and more honest society. Unfortunately, his ideas were not well received by the ruling powers, and he was eventually exiled from his home state of Chu (Chu is an old name for the part of China that is now the area around Hubei province). So while he was in exile, Qu Yuan wrote many famous poems, including one called "Li Sao," which means "Encountering Sorrow." And the poem expresses Qu Yuan's love for his homeland and his sadness at being separated from it.
(Mat) 
That's a really interesting story. But where does the boat come into the story? Did he escape on a boat or something like that?
(Jocelyn) 
Okay, nice idea, but not really. Well, according to the legend, when Qu Yuan learned that his homeland had been conquered by a neighbouring state, he drowned himself in the Miluo River as a form of protest (so in many ways it’s kind of a tragic story). The local people who admired him so much, raced their boats to save him, but they were too late. The hero of our story drowned in the river. To commemorate Qu Yuan's sacrifice, people began holding dragon boat races on the  anniversary of his death, which is believed to be the 5th day of the 5th lunar month (that’s why the festival falls on that date). And they also throw zongzi into the water to give Qu Yaun food, (these are sticky rice dumplings wrapped in leaves). And the people thought that the fish might eat those dumplings, so they wrapped them in bamboo leaves, just to stop the fish eating them.
(Mat) 
Wow, now that's really fascinating. Tell me more about these dumplings. What did you call them? Zongzi?
(Jocelyn) 
Well, they are made of sticky rice that has been stuffed with different fillings, like meat or sweet bean paste. Then, they are wrapped in bamboo leaves, tied with string and boiled or steamed for a while. And the result is a delicious and fragrant dumpling that is perfect for a meal or as a snack. There are many different styles of zongzi, such as the Cantonese-style zongzi, which are usually larger and filled with a variety of meats and vegetables. The northern-style zongzi are typically smaller and filled with red bean paste, dates, or other sweet fillings. So ‘zongzi’ as a snack is more about the shape, the style of cooking and the bamboo wrapping. Just like most Chinese snacks there’s quite a lot of regional variations in taste (sweet or salty), and ingredients – because obviously people in different regions have different food preferences, but everyone all over China enjoys zongzi in one form or another.
(Mat) 
That sounds really cool. So, it seems like the festival is still really important to Chinese people today.
(Jocelyn) 
Exactly, it's a very important cultural event, it's a time for people to come together with their families and friends. It's also a time to reflect on the importance of patriotism, loyalty, and the struggle for a better society.
(Mat) 
Well, it certainly sounds like a great celebration. Now I know a lot more about it and I can’t wait to get my teeth into some of those zongzi.
 
Well, that’s it for today. We hope you enjoyed this episode, thanks for listening. We hope to see you again next time. Until then, goodbye. Stay wise.
 
农历五月初五，是中华民族古老的传统节日——端午节。两千多年来，端午节逐渐成为集全民健身、防疫祛病、避瘟驱毒、祈求健康为主题的综合性节日，主要有祭祀屈原、纪念伍子胥、插艾蒿、挂菖蒲、喝雄黄酒、吃粽子、龙舟竞渡、除五毒、佩香囊等诸多习俗。在这其中，最具代表性，也是最富刺激性、最为壮观的，当属龙舟竞渡习俗。
龙舟竞渡，又称赛龙舟，每年在端午前后举行。各地持续时长差异较大，短则一日，长则月余，湖南沅陵则形成长达“三个‘半月’”的龙舟月格局。龙舟竞渡与端午节其它习俗彼此配合，形成完整的文化景象。比赛时，河面上，一只只龙舟你追我赶，劈波斩浪；龙舟健儿，奋力向前，竞显风流；河岸上，人潮涌动，彩旗招展。号子声、锣鼓声、击水声、人语声、助威声交织一片，场面壮观，呈现出人与自然和谐依存的景观。龙舟竞渡结束后，各地往往会举办庆祝活动，形式多样，包括文艺表演、燃礼花、放河灯等。
龙舟竞渡习俗是各地端午文化的重要表现形式，是各地百姓在漫长的生活实践中创造的社会产物，蕴含着中华民族的传统文化道德风尚和价值观念，对弘扬自强精神，强调人与自然和谐相处，强化人们的文化认同与社会和谐，加强民族团结具有重要意义。
摘自《百舸竞争流——端午龙舟竞渡习俗》