| The Chinese Dragon Boat Festival is a | | | | excitement of the race attracts |
| significant holiday celebrated in China, | | | | thousands of spectators, who watch from |
| and the one with the longest history. | | | | the river bank cheering on their |
| The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated | | | | favorite team. |
| by boat races in the shape of Dragons. | | | | Dragon Boat Festival is highlighted by |
| Competing teams row their boats forward | | | | the dragon boat races, in which |
| to a drumbeat racing to reach the finish | | | | competing teams drive their boats |
| end first. | | | | forward rowing to the rhythm of pounding |
| The boat races during the Dragon Boat | | | | drums. This lively and colorful |
| Festival are traditional customs to | | | | tradition has continued unbroken for |
| attempts to rescue the patriotic poet | | | | centuries to the present day. |
| Chu Yuan. Chu Yuan drowned on the fifth | | | | The celebration's is a time for |
| day of the fifth lunar month in 277 B.C. | | | | protection from evil and disease for the |
| Chinese citizens now throw bamboo leaves | | | | rest of the year. It is done so by |
| filled with cooked rice into the water. | | | | different practices such as hanging |
| Therefore the fish could eat the rice | | | | healthy herbs on the front door, |
| rather than the hero poet. This later on | | | | drinking nutritious concoctions, and |
| turned into the custom of eating | | | | displaying portraits of evil's nemesis, |
| tzungtzu and rice dumplings. | | | | Chung Kuei. If one manages to stand an |
| When the race begins, all one can see is | | | | egg on it's end at exactly 12:00 noon, |
| the rowers of each team driving their | | | | the following year will be a lucky one. |
| boats forward in unison to the beat of | | | | The most popular dish during Dragon Boat |
| drums. The winning team is the one that | | | | Festival is tzung tzu, originally eaten |
| first grabs the flag at the end of the | | | | in memory of the patriot Chu Yuan, but |
| river course and the difference between | | | | gradually evolving into a snack eaten |
| victory and defeat may be only a few | | | | during normal occasions as well. |
| fractions of a second. The energy and | | | | |