My Blog

China

Dragon Boat Festival

June 7, 2008

Tomorrow is Chinese festival Dragon Boat Day.

Happy Dragon Boat Day to you !

Dragon Boat Festival

The Dragon Boat Festival, the 5th day of the 5th lunar month, has had a history of more than 2,000 years. It is usually in June in the Gregorian calendar.

There are many legends about the evolution of the festival, the most popular of which is in commemoration of Qu Yuan (340-278 BC). Qu Yuan was minister of the State of Chu and one of China's earliest poets. In face of great pressure from the powerful Qin State, he advocated enriching the country and strengthening its military forces so as to fight against the Qin. However, he was opposed by aristocrats headed by Zi Lan, and later deposed and exiled by King Huai. In his exiled days, he still cared much for his country and people and composed immortal poems including Li Sao (The Lament), Tian Wen (Heavenly Questions) and Jiu Ge (Nine Songs), which had far-reaching influences. In 278 BC, he heard the news that Qin troops had finally conquered Chu's capital, so he finished his last piece Huai Sha (Embracing Sand) and plunged himself into the Miluo River, clasping his arms to a large stone. The day happened to be the 5th of the 5th month in the Chinese lunar calendar. After his death, the people of Chu crowded to the bank of the river to pay their respects to him. The fishermen sailed their boats up and down the river to look for his body. People threw into the water zongzi (pyramid-shaped glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in reed or bamboo leaves) and eggs to divert possible fish or shrimp from attacking his body. An old doctor poured a jug of reaglar wine (Chinese liquor seasoned with realgar) into the water, hoping to turn all aquatic beasts drunk. That's why people later followed the customs such as dragon boat racing, eating zongzi and drinking realgar wine on that day.

Dragon boat racing is an indispensable part of the festival, held all over the country. As the gun is fired, people will see racers in dragon-shaped canoes pulling the oars harmoniously and hurriedly, accompanied by rapid drums, speeding toward their destination. Folk tales say the game originates from the activities of seeking Qu Yuan's body, but experts, after painstaking and meticulous research, conclude that dragon boat racing is a semi-religious, semi-entertaining program from the Warring States Period (475-221 BC). In the following thousands of years, the game spread to Japan, Vietnam and Britain as well as China's Taiwan and Hong Kong. Now dragon boat racing has developed into an aquatic sports item which features both Chinese tradition and modern sporting spirit. In 1980, it was listed into the state sports competition programs and has since been held every year. The award is called "Qu Yuan Cup."

Zongzi is an essential food of the Dragon Boat Festival. It is said that people ate them in the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC). In early times, it was only glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in reed or other plant leaves and tied with colored thread, but now the fillings are more diversified, including jujube and bean paste, fresh meat, and ham and egg yolk. If time permits, people will soak glutinous rice, wash reed leaves and wrap up zongzi themselves. Otherwise, they will go to shops to buy whatever stuff they want. The custom of eating zongzi is now popular in North and South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asian nations.

On Dragon Boat Festival, parents also need to dress their children up with a perfume pouch. They first sew little bags with colorful silk cloth, then fill the bags with perfumes or herbal medicines, and finally string them with silk threads. The perfume pouch will be hung around the neck or tied to the front of a garment as an ornament. They are said to be able to ward off evil.

Zongzi

Delicious………

  Engoying it!
Have a good time!
                       Help yourself ! he he

delicious Chinese food,isn't ? looking for ur comments ^^

Comment on this

A joke

June 7, 2008

I'm Glad

A teacher was telling her pupils the importance of making others glad. "Now, children," said she , "has anyone of you ever made someone else glad?""Teacher,"said a small boy,"I made someone glad yesterday.""Well done. Who was that?""My granny.""Good boy. Now tell us how you made your grandmother glad."" I went to see her yesterday, and stayed with her three hours. Then I said to her, 'Granny, I'm going home,' and she said, 'Well, I'm glad'!"

Comment on this

The worst strom in China

June 6, 2008

It was very cold, the snow was dancing with the rain, but all of my family members felt warmth in our hearts. This was a special day for our big family----my cousin was going to get married today!To tell the truth, it was not a perfect day for the wedding. There were successive days of rain and snow and the road became very muddy and slippery. Once a car got bogged down in the mud, it was very hard to get it out. If that happened it would delay the entire wedding. Even though we had made excellent preparation, we still felt worried when my cousin and his company set off to pick up the bride. While waving our hands and having sunshiny smiles, we has hoped everything would go well and they could come back early.About 3 o’clock in the afternoon, the good news came, easing our worries. The wedding party at the bride’s home had finished successfully. The bridegroom and his company were on their way home.One and a half hours later, the team arrived on schedule. We held our traditional ceremony --- bai tang, nao dongfang and other activities. Drinking, eating, talking, and smiling, we were very happy and excited with so many friends and family members together though some of our relatives didn’t come due to the heavy snow in the south. With rousing cheers, we played jokes on the newly married couple, asking them to sing a song for us. Suddenly, the lights went off.“What’s going on?” “Don’t move!” “Take care ! ” We were in total darkness and didn’t know what had happened.“Everybody stay where you are. Don’t move!” Saying this, my aunt went to find some candles by using the dim light of her cellphone.News came that a television tower was out of shape because of the cold weather and the thick ice on it. It fell down without warning. A moment later, we had the lights on again. The accident didn’t spoil our good mood and happy atmosphere. On the contrary, the sparking lights made the ceremony more romantic. In the light of the sparking candles, we “cheered” together, for the happiness of the newly-married couple, the health of our unreturned family members, and the bright future of our motherland that had suffered.