Communities across China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan celebrated the Dragon Boat Festival yesterday as competing teams paddled colorful, long dragon-shaped boats through rivers and harbors before crowds of spectators. See photos here.
The holiday dates back more than 2,000 years; it’s traditionally linked to a poet and government official named Qu Yuan, who, according to legend, drowned himself in China’s Miluo River after his kingdom of Chu fell to the rival state of Qin. Villagers raced out in boats to search for him and tossed rice into the river to protect his body from fish, inspiring today’s races and the festival food zongzi, a sticky rice dumpling wrapped in leaves.
Dragon boats can stretch more than 40 feet long and require crews of up to 20 people paddling in sync to the beat of a drum. The dragon symbolizes power and good fortune in Chinese culture. Watch how the boats are built here.
