10 Things you might not know about the Dragon Boat Festival

If you’ve heard about the origin legend of this festival and the Zhou dynasty scholar Qu Yuan, then you’ll know that dragon boats are by no means new. However, the modern dragon boat races that fill our waters actually originated in Hong Kong around 40 years ago. Our city held the first international dragon boat race back in 1976, which became the basis of this annual sport in the modern day.

Multinational companies and larger organisations in Hong Kong often form dragon boating teams and sign them up for races during this season. Practice sessions can take up to 16 weeks leading up to the races, and the sport itself relies heavily on everyone working together seamlessly, so it’s a great way for co-workers to bond, improve on collaboration, and get a workout in at the same time.

Aside from an energetic race, the Dragon Boat Festival in the sleepy village of Tai O also consists of a special water parade. According to local folklore, Tai O was hit by a plague approximately a century ago and the villagers invoked the protection of the gods by sailing their statues around the village. It supposedly worked, since the tradition has been kept to this day.

On the morning before the Dragon Boat Festival, representatives of the fishermen’s associations will row their dragon boats to visit four temples in the village and collect statues of the gods from each location. The day of the festival itself will see the deity statues paraded through Tai O’s waters on sacred sampans towed by dragon boats, invoking blessings for peace and wellbeing. This parade was inscribed in the list of intangible cultural heritage in 2011.

Well, not on the Chinese calendar anyway. While the Dragon Boat Festival does fall on a different date every year on the Western Gregorian calendar, this holiday actually occurs on the fifth day of the fifth month every year on the Chinese Lunar calendar. Due to numerous legends and the date’s concurrence with the annual flood period and midsummer – a time when insects and bacteria tend to spread quickly – people considered this day to be a time of misfortune and adopted several customs to ward off bad luck and pray for good fortune.

There are many stories about how rice dumplings, aka zongzi, came about, with the most famous one being Qu Yan’s death. However, some argue that this widely known legend is not the true origin. In the agricultural society of ancient China, rice placed in cattle horns were used as a sacrifice, and it is said that rice dumplings were originally called jiao shu (‘jiao’ means horn, and ‘shu’ grains). As time progressed, these horns were replaced with leaves shaped like horns due to economic reasons – and thus, rice dumplings were born.

Not that we ever need an excuse to drink up, but alcohol consumption is very much a traditional custom that is practised during the holiday. When the festival rolls around, people break out the realgar wine, a Chinese cereal wine mixed with powdered realgar (an arsenic sulfide mineral). The concoction is believed to be an effective antidote against mosquitoes, poison, disease, and evil spirits. Wish we could say the same about vodka tonics!

The only sport celebrated with a public holiday in Hong Kong, dragon boat racing is now an internationally recognised sport. Today, it is practised in more than 50 countries, with competitions held around the world such as Singapore, Taiwan, the UK, Australia, and more. In fact, it is seeking full Olympic recognition as an official competitive category, having been a demonstration sport at both the 2020 Tokyo and 2025 Paris Olympics.

There are more than 20 variations of sticky rice dumplings in China alone. While it might take you some time to travel around different regions to sample them all, there are plenty of varieties to try in Hong Kong alone. You can go for ones with sweet fillings like red bean paste, dates, and melons, or dumplings with savoury ingredients such as salted egg, roast pork, and dried shrimp. Some also offer flavours with a modern twist like truffle sauce, crab meat, or even sweet potato.

Prior to South Korea nominating the Gangneung Danoje Festival (a festival also celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month) as an intangible cultural heritage property to UNESCO's list, the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival was not formally under UNESCO’s protection. South Korea’s move to nominate its own festival in 2005 sparked an uproar amongst the Chinese over the festival's origin. Later in 2009, the Dragon Boat Festival was eventually added to the UNESCO World Intangible Cultural Heritage List.

Did you know that in ancient times, Chinese people believed that balancing an egg would bring them good luck? According to tradition, the best time to try this feat was at noon during the Dragon Boat Festival. Although reasons for this belief are not entirely clear, some studies suggest that the gravitational pull between the sun and the earth is strongest at this time, thus making it easier for an egg to stand on its tip.