Dragonboat races and dumplings are the two main features of the dragon boat festival.

Age-old tradition lives on in modern Singapore with the Dragon Boat Festival, a traditional Chinese holiday with apocryphal origins dating back to China’s Warring States era.

Dragon boat races and dumplings—two of the most distinctive elements of the festival — have their roots in a story of patriotism and politics.

A legendary figure

One of the most enduring legends associated with this celebration tells the story of Qu Yuan, an incorruptible minister of state during the Warring States era of China. Once a trusted advisor, he was banished by his emperor due to political intrigue and in despair, threw himself into the river and ended his life.

Because he was well-loved by the common folk, fishermen started to beat their oars against the water in a desperate attempt to stop the man-eating fish in the river from devouring his body. Others threw cooked rice wrapped in leaves into the water, in the hope that the fish would eat them instead.

The stories have fused well with the tradition of Chinese fishermen using dragon-shaped boats to appease river ‘dragons’, which evolved into a sport during the Han dynasty.

Beating the drums

Today, many features of the ancient races remain intact, including the long and narrow boat shapes, the prows painted with dragons’ heads, and the drums which set the pace for the rowers.

In Singapore, a festive atmosphere rules as participants pull furiously on their oars, leaders beat their drums, flags are waved and spectators cheer for their favourite teams.

It is vigorous action, tragic history and thrilling camaraderie, blended into one compelling and exciting spectacle.

What's Unique

It’s a wrap!

A well-loved aspect of the festival, glutinous rice dumplings ('zhang' in Chinese) are triangular, wrapped in bamboo leaves and have a wide variety of fillings. A popular version is 'bak zhang', stuffed with pork, water chestnuts and mushrooms, while the nonya (Peranakan*) version bursts with braised pork, five spice powder and candied winter melon. 'Kee zhang' has no filling and is eaten as a sweet, dipped in sugar or 'gula melaka' (‘palm sugar’ in Malay) syrup.

*The term is an Indonesian/Malay word that means “local born”, which generally refers to people of Chinese and Malay/Indonesian heritage.

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