Expact's Journal: Exciting Dragon Boat Race

My first year in Zhongshan, 2008 is a bit of a blur of numerous confusing occasions and festivals that I had never encountered or heard of before coming to China. Everyday felt like a new discovery of food or some traditional event. As we live near the river, I often would see crews of dragon boats rowing up and down, but it didn’t seem exclusively to be one time of year or one particular date. The name in Chinese is Duan Wu Jie (pinyin) which always confused me because it doesn’t mention dragons or boats.  The stories behind the festival are also varied, but probably the most famous one goes like this: There was a famous poet called Qu Yuan during the “Warring States” Period. He was a passionate defender of his State, however he was unable to save it. On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, in a fit of despair he threw himself into the MiLuo river. The people were saddened by this and attempted to save his body from being eaten by the fish, by throwing food into the river. They also tried scaring the fish away with dragon headed boats, churning up the water.

Personally, I find the sticky rice parcels a bit too stodgy and difficult to eat on a hot day, so throwing them into the river sounds pretty good to me! Hopefully it fattens up the fish for me to catch at a later date too!

But levity aside, Dragonboat Festival is considered one of the four major festivals of China (alongside Spring Festival, Tomb Sweeping Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival). In 2021 I had the opportunity to join the practice of one of our local dragon boat crews. I have always enjoyed rowing in my native New Zealand and was excited to give it a try here.

Unfortunately, due to many years of social football, my back isn’t what it used to be and I would be unable to compete with the crews, so a chance to join in without competition was perfect for me. I enjoyed the social camaraderie of experience and the banter and jokes bandied about amongst the crew as they rowed. Nothing like a good backhanded compliment to motivate your buddies to give more effort for the team!

The experience among the crew very much reminded me of my days playing football after work with friends. One by one we would assemble and make casual chit chat before settling down to the serious work of the sport. Doing it for the person next to you, not daring to be the one who lacks effort and lets down your teammates. There is a lot of pride at stake, especially amongst the neighbouring villages. You don’t want to have to face them at work the next day having lost on the water!

The spirit that arises from this is palpable and extends to those friends, family and neighbours cheering you on so boisterously from the riverbank.  Now when I cheer on the crews from the sidelines, I have a more personal connection and an extra vigour in my voice to push my team on to victory. So when the Dragonboat Festival rolls around this year, listen carefully and join in the chants as best you can. Your voice will contribute to the atmosphere and spirit of the great occasion.