Dragon Boat Festival

The story picks up after Qu Yuan drowned. Local fishermen tried to no avail to get Qu Yuan's body from the river. To protect his body from hungry fish, they threw food into the river to distract them. Today we eat zong zi as a symbol of that food thrown into the river. They splashed the water with their paddles and beat the drums on their long, narrow fishing boats in an attempt to scare off the fish.

In later years, a dragon was added into the story. Fishermen believed there was a water dragon living in the river. After one man poured an urn of strong rice wine into the river, a drunken dragon floated to the surface. Tangled among the whiskers of this water dragon was found a fragment of Qu Yuan's clothing.

Many years later in southern China, dragon boat racing grew to become associated with memorializing Qu Yuan's noble death.

Today, people around the world celebrate Dragon Boat Festival. And dragon boat racing has become a sport of its own, not simply a tradition reserved to Chinese people.

Zong zi 粽子 are the food associated with Dragon Boat Festival. These delicious "dumplings" are basically glutinous/sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves into a pyramid shape and then steamed. Inside each bundle, the zong zi may be flavored in many different ways. Savory ones include pork, peanuts, egg yolk, or seafood. Sweet zong zi may have red bean paste or dates inside.

Try Eating China for a recipe. It may be a bit difficult to make, so here is a modified recipe that you can do at home to try your hand at zong zi:

Cook some sticky rice according to package directions. Take a ball of warm, salted rice in your hand and make an indention in it. Into the hollow, add your choice of these ingredients: peanuts, bacon bits, egg yolk, chopped dates. Press the sticky rice around the filling, and enjoy!

The food zong zi is as much a part of this holiday as dragon boat racing is! In fact, in areas without waterways, eating zong zi is the main way to celebrate this festival.

Another zong zi activity -- make paper models of zong zi using this pyramid template. Print it on green paper or color the template green. Fill your pyramid with the scrap paper you cut away from the template to keep if from crumpling. Then wrap twine or rafia around it as if tying it shut for steaming! Voila! A paper zong zi craft!