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Hong Kong's annual Dragon Boat Festival kicks off
The annual Chinese Dragon Boat Festival kicked off in Hong Kong on Sunday, as colourful boats decorated with dragons, drums and fireworks adorned the city's waters.
- Agencies
- Published: 18:01 June 8, 2008
- Boatmen row the dragon boats during a race at the traditional Dragon Boat Festival in Taiwan.
- Image Credit: AP
Hong Kong: The annual Chinese Dragon Boat Festival kicked off in Hong Kong on Sunday, as colourful boats decorated with dragons, drums and fireworks adorned the city's waters.
The festival, also known as the Duanwu Festival, commemorates a popular Chinese hero and poet Qu Yuan, who drowned himself in the Miluo River in the province of Hunan over 2,000 years ago to protest government corruption.
This year, the Chinese government officially extended the number of holidays to allow the public to appreciate and celebrate the traditional festival.
The Chinese celebrate the holiday by eating “zongzi'', a specially made dumpling, and racing dragon boats, which are the highlight of the festival.
Participants race in vibrant, decorated dragon boats which have intricate patterns and painted dragon figures on them.
The boats are at least 10 metres long and can carry teams of 20-22 people at a time.
The festival also takes place in other areas in China as well as the region, including Taiwan.
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