How to Celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival in Beijing
01/06/2024
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This year’s Dragon Boat Festival roars into life on the 10 June, with eager paddlers taking to the waters across the city. Make a splash in Beijing with our guide on how to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival.
When: Falling on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar, the Dragon Boat Festival (or, Duanwu Festival) changes date every year. In 2024, this raucous three-day boating bonanza runs Fri 8-Mon 10 June.
What: Crews of between ten and 20 paddlers, arranged into two rows and overseen by the steersperson, propel their dragon boat through the water at a pace set by the drummer. The figurehead’s eyes are dotted with lucky red paint at the beginning of the race to represent the dragon coming to life.
Other celebrations include music, dance, traditional artistic performances, eating delicious zongzi (stuffed glutinous rice balls wrapped in bamboo leaves), and drinking – be it the traditional realgar wine or your own preferred tipple.
Why: The races date back to ancient China and symbolize the frantic search for poet and politician, Qu Yuan (340–278 BC), who drowned himself in the Miluo River as a statement of martyrdom for his country. The festival’s traditional snack, zongzi, derives from the lumps of rice locals dropped in the water to stop the fish from nibbling on Yuan's remains. A doctor among them is said to have poured realgar wine into the river to draw out an aquatic dragon, which was then promptly slain by the boatmen.
Where: Channel your inner Daenerys at a number of watery hotspots across Beijing: the Golden Sail Water Sports Club in Houhai, home to the Beijing International Dragon Boat Racing Team, is the most central location; the staggering Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park is where the ‘official’ race takes place; and there will also be smaller, family-friendly events across town (see Taoranting, Beihai or Jingshan parks, Green T Living, and Brickyard at Mutianyu).
When: Falling on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar, the Dragon Boat Festival (or, Duanwu Festival) changes date every year. In 2024, this raucous three-day boating bonanza runs Fri 8-Mon 10 June.
What: Crews of between ten and 20 paddlers, arranged into two rows and overseen by the steersperson, propel their dragon boat through the water at a pace set by the drummer. The figurehead’s eyes are dotted with lucky red paint at the beginning of the race to represent the dragon coming to life.
Other celebrations include music, dance, traditional artistic performances, eating delicious zongzi (stuffed glutinous rice balls wrapped in bamboo leaves), and drinking – be it the traditional realgar wine or your own preferred tipple.
Why: The races date back to ancient China and symbolize the frantic search for poet and politician, Qu Yuan (340–278 BC), who drowned himself in the Miluo River as a statement of martyrdom for his country. The festival’s traditional snack, zongzi, derives from the lumps of rice locals dropped in the water to stop the fish from nibbling on Yuan's remains. A doctor among them is said to have poured realgar wine into the river to draw out an aquatic dragon, which was then promptly slain by the boatmen.
Where: Channel your inner Daenerys at a number of watery hotspots across Beijing: the Golden Sail Water Sports Club in Houhai, home to the Beijing International Dragon Boat Racing Team, is the most central location; the staggering Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park is where the ‘official’ race takes place; and there will also be smaller, family-friendly events across town (see Taoranting, Beihai or Jingshan parks, Green T Living, and Brickyard at Mutianyu).