Dragon Boats

Every year, on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, cultures all through- out Asia celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival. This origin of this tradition dates back over two thousand years during the Warring States Period of the Zhou Dynasty on Mainland China.

Legend has it that the king the state of Chu decided to form an alliance with the growing and dangerous state of Qin. At the time, a royal adviser named Qu Yuan greatly opposed any form of alliance and was therefore banished. During his time in exile, Qu Yuan wrote a great deal of poetry and is now greatly remembered more for his literary accomplishments rather than his political ones.

However, disaster struck the state of Chu as Qin became so powerful that is conquered Chu. In great despair, Qu Yuan committed suicide by throwing himself into the river in 278 B.C.E. The local people were terribly afraid that the fish would devour the corpse of their beloved poet, so in response, they wrapped food and threw it into the river as morsels for the fish. It is believed that this gave rise to zongzi, or rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves, which are traditionally eaten at the time of the dragon boat festival.

Over time, dragon boat races were held to ward off evil spirits or ghosts inhabiting the waterways. Whether to protect Qu Yuan or themselves, these races continue up until today.


In Taiwan, there are several places to witness these dragon boat races. Perhaps the most interesting one takes place in Jiaosi where an aboriginal style race takes place on the Erlong (double dragon) river. While this tradition has been going on for over 200 years, we opted for the closer dragon boat festival in the city of Taipei.


At the riverside park, below the famous fishing rod bridge, the 2008 dragon boat festival was launched. An enormous affair, we were delighted by the sheer number of folks out supporting this honorable tradition. We began the day with a joyful bicycle ride around the grounds. It was at this point I achieved one of my life-long goals: riding a two seater bicycle. At first, proved difficult to control, but before long, my capable partner and I were maneuvering quite well through the throngs of onlookers.


We peddled up to the fishing rod bridge which gave us a bird's eye view of the first dragon boat race. I was amazed by the speed at which the boats traversed the waters. From this top angle, you can see how the boat is organized with rowers on each side, a man on the rudder, and one more on an enormous drum to keep rhythm. The races were exciting as the boats hurled below me to the sound of an ancient drum pounding along.


Afterwards, we met some friends and enjoyed a bit of the races from the river level. Having already returned the bikes at this point, we were consequently on foot from this point forwards. The most exciting part, aside from the heaping pile of chow mien I had for lunch, was watching the teams board their boats before the race and take off past us. These photos and video capture the quintessential excitement that make up the dragon boat festival.

However, the excited quickly wears off after about one or two races before you realize these are just a bunch of people rowing a boat. So with that, we hopped on the bus with our complimentary rice dumplings and returned home culturally fulfilled. From your river demon scaring dragon boat pentathlon athlete of Dajia River Park, Michael.