Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival
Well, ya might as well learn something while you're trying to get all the gossip about in my life in HK...
"This Festival, also known as Tuen Ng Festival, commemorates the death of a popular Chinese national hero, Qu Yuan, who drowned himself in the Mi Lo River over 2,000 years ago to protest against the corrupt rulers. Legend says that as townspeople attempted to rescue him, they beat drums to scare fish away and threw dumplings into the sea to keep the fish from eating Qu Yuan's body."
There's a great link on the Dragon Boat Festival on Hong Kong's main tourist site here: http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/heritage/festivals/he_fest_drag.jhtml
I went down to Stanley with Michelle, Michael, Chris, and DW. After a long bus ride in ridiculous temperatures, we wandered our way down to the water just in time to catch a race happening. Way off in the distance on the water were several long boats gliding across the water. Honestly, I probably wouldn't have known what was happening if everybody else hadn't already been looking... (pics below)
I was more captivated by my immediate surroundings... ten Fred Flintstones followed by ten Wilmas, random reggae costumes - Marley wigs included - , and of course the thick layer of sweat running down my face.
Some of the team costumes were outrageous and some had hardcore sponsors. We walked our way around to where the boats docked after finishing the race, and there we got a much better taste of the flavor of the festival... these boats are Decked Out: crazy dragon figureheads thrust out from the front of the boat where a drummer sits during the race. And they hold about 20 people. (pics below)
Part of me couldn't believe that people would train so arduously for an event that seems to have gotten a little goofy in its modern days. But then I remember the Buggy Races at CMU's Carnival where half the drivers show up drunk and the other half have trained for months at 3 o'clock in the morning... or the Bay to Breakers run in San Francisco 'nuff said... perhaps, the best festivals are the ones that don't take themselves too seriously?
Also a link to the official site here: http://www.dragonboat.org.hk/en/home/homepage.html
"This Festival, also known as Tuen Ng Festival, commemorates the death of a popular Chinese national hero, Qu Yuan, who drowned himself in the Mi Lo River over 2,000 years ago to protest against the corrupt rulers. Legend says that as townspeople attempted to rescue him, they beat drums to scare fish away and threw dumplings into the sea to keep the fish from eating Qu Yuan's body."
There's a great link on the Dragon Boat Festival on Hong Kong's main tourist site here: http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/heritage/festivals/he_fest_drag.jhtml
I went down to Stanley with Michelle, Michael, Chris, and DW. After a long bus ride in ridiculous temperatures, we wandered our way down to the water just in time to catch a race happening. Way off in the distance on the water were several long boats gliding across the water. Honestly, I probably wouldn't have known what was happening if everybody else hadn't already been looking... (pics below)
I was more captivated by my immediate surroundings... ten Fred Flintstones followed by ten Wilmas, random reggae costumes - Marley wigs included - , and of course the thick layer of sweat running down my face.
Some of the team costumes were outrageous and some had hardcore sponsors. We walked our way around to where the boats docked after finishing the race, and there we got a much better taste of the flavor of the festival... these boats are Decked Out: crazy dragon figureheads thrust out from the front of the boat where a drummer sits during the race. And they hold about 20 people. (pics below)
Part of me couldn't believe that people would train so arduously for an event that seems to have gotten a little goofy in its modern days. But then I remember the Buggy Races at CMU's Carnival where half the drivers show up drunk and the other half have trained for months at 3 o'clock in the morning... or the Bay to Breakers run in San Francisco 'nuff said... perhaps, the best festivals are the ones that don't take themselves too seriously?
Also a link to the official site here: http://www.dragonboat.org.hk/en/home/homepage.html
posted by Stephanie at 11:46 PM
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