How are you celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival?

[scoff]

Today (6/2/2014) is the Dragon Boat Festival (端午节) and I was wondering how/if people were celebrating in their part of the world.

 

Here in the US we're eating 粽子 and hanging out with friends. Washington DC will be having a dragon boat race in a couple weeks due to bad weather. 

 

I was listening to Beijing radio this morning and as they were going through some of the Dragon Boat Festival traditions one of the hosts mentioned drinking 黄酒. I've never heard of drinking 黄酒 to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival but most of my China exposure has been in the northeast. Lots of baijiu drinking up there. Maybe it's a regional thing or just my small sample.

 

 

 

[abcdefg]

吃粽子。 That's about it in Kunming. I haven't heard of drinking 黄酒 as part of the celebration. Agree with your thought that perhaps it is a regional custom.

 

We also send text messages to our friends: 端午快乐！

[xiaojiang216]

端午节 is an important festival here in 湖北, as 屈原 is not only a national icon, but also a local hero. During last year's festivities, I spectated a sacrificial ceremony or 祭祀大典 in his honor, as well as some dragon boat races going on nearby. This all took place at the East Lake, which has several statues of 屈原 and even a 纪念馆 about his life, his works, and his legacy. Here is a newscast from last year that features some of the festivities. Bonus points for who can find me in the background a few minutes into the clip!

I went back this year (yesterday to be exact), but for some reason, I must have missed the sacrifical ceremony and races. Perhaps the arrangements were different this year because of 儿童节 during the same weekend. But anyway, 武汉 is a good place to be during 端午节, as it is home to a great deal of 楚文化!

[zhouhaochen]

Not much in Beijing for Dragon Boat Festival. More of a Southern thing. A Chinese friend invited me for family dinner, one dish was 粽子 and that was about it. I think on Houhai they probably had boat races, but overall the holiday does not mean much to people in Beijing it seems. 中秋节 清明节等 get a lot more attention here.

[tysond]

My teacher went to Houhai to see the races, apparently she 白跑一趟 as there were none at all!   A few people on the street selling 粽子 when I was out and about -- but it was really subdued in Beijing.