Duanwu Festival!!
Happy Duanwu Day!! Or Happy Dragon Boat Festival Day! Today is the day that Chinese and east Asian societies observe the festival that bears the name of our sport.
So what’s the significance of this day? Well depending on which tradition you hear, today is the day that Chinese people celebrate the life of a very famous poet Qu Yuan . The most beloved poet by all, he died by drowning in the Miluo River. Chinese farmers tried to save him by throwing stick rice paddies, called zongzi , into the river to stop the fish from picking at his body. Farmers jumped into their long narrow boats to paddle out to retrieve his body. It was said that their boat and the paddling rate resembled that of a might dragon traveling at light speed. This is where dragon boat racing started.
The story of Qu Yuan survived generations and to this day, Chinese people celebrate the anniversary of his death, the fifth day of the fifth month on the lunar calendar, by eating the sticky rice paddies that were offered to the fishes and race on Dragon boats.