Customs of Dragon Boat Festival in Chaoshan Area

The pace of life in Chaoshan area is a little slow, so unlike big cities, the Dragon Boat Festival in small counties will be grand and lively. Our Dragon Boat Festival is mainly divided into three steps: making zongzi, learning from teachers and rowing dragon boats.

Because of the large population at home, in my hometown, we prefer to make our own zongzi a few days before the Dragon Boat Festival, which is clean and hygienic and affordable. Chaoshan zongzi looks from the outside to the inside. First of all, the leaves of zongzi are green bamboo leaves, which can be used to wrap zongzi after washing and drying. On the second floor, the glutinous rice is washed on the day of making zongzi, then put into the pot, add garlic oil and mushrooms, and stir with a little soy sauce. Some people like to put a little sand tea sauce, so that glutinous rice is sweeter when steamed. The stuffing inside consists of bird eggs, red bean paste, mushrooms and lean meat. Peel off the eggs the day before wrapping jiaozi, then cook them with soy sauce and spiced powder, and then store them in the refrigerator. It's better to marinate the eggs until the next day and wrap them in jiaozi. Lean meat doesn't need to be boiled, so it is directly cut into pieces and diced mushrooms, mixed together and wrapped in zongzi, while bean paste is bought from others in the vegetable market, so Chaoshan zongzi stuffing is divided into two layers.

The second part is learning from teachers. On the Dragon Boat Festival, it is the fifth day of May. Originally, the worship in Chaoshan area was on the first and fifteenth day of each month, but because this festival is special, the Dragon Boat Festival will also worship Grandfather and other immortals. Well, I have to get up early to prepare things and food for worship.

Finally, the dragon boat race is very grand. There is a Huanggang River in my hometown, which is the intersection of seawater and fresh water. Therefore, people usually hold dragon boat races in Danshui area during the Dragon Boat Festival every year, and each village has a team. Half a month before the Dragon Boat Festival, they began to practice every afternoon and evening. In my hometown, sending the red flag is very special, because we belong to the land of plenty, and most people make a living by fishing in the sea, so sending the red flag on the Dragon Boat Festival also means smooth sailing in the coming year.

? When I was a child, I always watched adults throw zongzi and peaches and plums into the water. I don't understand why they did it. Isn't it a waste to soak delicious food in water? Later, when I grew up, I knew the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival and the story of Qu Yuan from textbooks, and then I knew the origin of throwing food into the water like this.

Nowadays, due to the rapid development of social economy, the popularity of western cultural festivals has had a great influence on China festivals which have been circulated for thousands of years. In big cities, many young people take white day and Christmas seriously, and make these festivals extremely grand, while traditional festivals in China, such as Mid-Autumn Festival and Dragon Boat Festival, just think it is good to take a few days off, but Chaoshan area still follows the traditional festivals and customs in China, although the economic development is slow. But life is still full and happy, so during Mid-Autumn Festival and Dragon Boat Festival, I prefer to go home and feel the festive atmosphere at home, and I am proud of being a Chaoshan person.