Miami Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival
On Saturday, May 31st in Brickell Key, the 5th Annual Miami Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival will take place. Now what is dragon boat racing and why should I attend? Dragon boat racing consists of teams racing down a 250-meter and a 500-meter waterway in Hong Kong Style Dragon Boats. Weighing in at 500 pounds, these boats are 40 feet long, 4 feet wide and carry 20 paddlers, 1 drummer and 1 steersperson. Teams are given only 2 practice sessions prior to race day.
This annual festival promotes the Asian tradition of dragon boat racing with the greater Miami community while encouraging locals to become physically fit while enjoying the outdoors. Following ancient tradition, the Dragon Boat Festival is typically held on the fifth day of the fifth moon of the lunar calendar – late May to mid-June and it commemorates the life and death of patriot-poet Qu Yuan who lived from 340-278 BC and advocated reform in Chu. The King refused to listen to Qu Yuan and rid him from the state of Chu, later resulting in Qu Yuan drowning himself in the Mi Lo River. Although his followers tried to save him, they were too late, but were still able to throw zung-ze (steamed rice wrapped in reed leaf) into the river so the fish would eat the rice rather than Qu Yuan’s body.
Ever since that day, dragon boats are raced on Chinese rivers and around the world to pay homage to Qu Yuan. This is quite appropriate since Chinese people consider themselves to be descendents of dragons.
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