Gracy Bee

Dragon Boat festival

Posted on June 16th, 2007 by GracyBee.
Categories: General.

Dragon Boat Festival? It is this coming Tuesday (the 5th day of the 5th Lunar month)! Since I was in the UK, I have not been celebrating this festival. Hence, I was a bit shocked when my aunt reminded me . Ok~~ it should be the other way round right? Ah…..me getting old now!!

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I went to the temple yesterday (the 1st day of the 5th Lunar month) and I was thrown at the bustling of activities near the Kwan Inn temple near Bugis Street. OMG! They are already celebrating?! All about commercialisation huh?

 

 

 

We eat rice dumplings on this Dragon Boat festival, also known as Duan Wu Jie (端午节). The significance behind this practise is this. According to the legend that I was told when I was young was about this Qu Yuan, a poet in ancient times was wrongly accused by the corruption government and to prove his innocence, he threw himself into the river. However, the local people knew about his character and in order not to let the fish eat his corpse, they threw rice dumplings into the river instead. Hence the rice dumpling to mark his death and remember him. (OK I’m not the fish ok?? hehe…)

As for the dragon boat, I’m not sure about its significance, but I read it in Wikipedia and just found out that the dragon boat played another role in addition to the rice dumplings.

 

Qu Yuan, the main character of this festival

Look at those dumplings!!

 

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My aunt rarely buy dumplings and she always prefer to make it herself. And she makes the best dumplings ever!!

 

 

Our homemade dumplings….can’t wait to lay my hands on!

 

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I decided to have one for breakfast and here it is… a quick snap before I eat it~

 

 

ready for the opening ceremony

 

 

Unlike the black version that my grandmother did in Malaysia, my aunt did the white one (as in most in Singapore). Ta-da!!!

 

 

The white one

 

The Verdict: YUM! YUM!!

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