Dragon Zongzi

Dragon Zongzi

     Every American knows there is a holiday called Memorial Day on the last Monday in May. However, fewer and fewer young Chinese know there is also a holiday on the 5^th day of the lunar month of May, called the Dragon Boat Festival. The Dragon Boat Festival is a very historic and significant holiday in China, commemorating a famous poet whose name was Qu Yuan. Even though not all Chinese know about Qu Yuan, all Chinese still celebrate the festival. Chinese people have created the Dragon Boat Races and wrapped Zongzi, a traditional snack to commemorate this festival. China has its unique traditional culture, and as the inheritors of Chinese culture, Chinese people should pass down this traditional culture from one generation to another. The Dragon Boat Festival is one part of traditional Chinese culture that I miss after having lived in the U.S. for two years.

     The most spectacular part of this festival is the Dragon Boat Races, which uses a long narrow boat of traditional Chinese design, is a characteristic entertainment of the festival. The boats move through the water by twenty rowers using oars, and they are decorated to look like a dragon. There is a leader at the front of the boat who will adjust the speed by beating a drum. When rowers hear the rhythm of the drum, they know how to row and make the boat move faster and faster. The audience also follows the rhythm to cheer the rowers in their favorite team. Everyone is so excited that they move as if they are rowing the boat themselves. However, some Chinese people who live in the U.S. do not have time to watch the American version of the races that take place in Chinatown. There were just a few seniors watching the races, and no cheerfulness. Some younger Chinese do not even know what Dragon Boat Races are, and they prefer watching a film than watching the races.

     Furthermore, on 4^th lunar month of May, Chinese mothers will wrap Zongzi to cerebrate the Dragon Boat Festival at home. Zongzi is a pyramid-shaped snack made of glutinous rice that has different fillings, such as green beans, pork, and eggs. Its filling depends on the children’s request. It can be sweet, salty, or half sweet and half salty. In my family, when my mother wrapped Zongzi, I was especially excited because I could learn how to wrap them. Even though when I wrapped the Zongzi, they were ugly and did not look like Zongzi, they were still extremely yummy. Since my family came here, my mother has had to work on the 4^th of May. She only went to buy some Zongzi from Chinatown. It was a totally different taste from the delectable taste of china. It just filled with peanuts and pork, no green beans or eggs.

     In the Dragon Boat Festival, the most meaningful thing is that the whole family can get together to have a huge dinner with many dishes. In China, the cities stop. No one goes to school or work. After watching the Dragon Boat Races, parents go to the market to buy fresh food. The whole family stays at home to cook the dinner. At the dinner table, everyone catches each other up on their lives. Some will tell stories, and some will just laugh. I saw that my grandparents and parents were the happiest members at the last Dragon Boat Festival dinner because all the children were home. This Dragon Boat Festival, I had hamburger with my cousin, but I promised my cousin that next year I would cook a traditional dragon dinner.

     Although not all Chinese commemorate Qu Yuan in the Dragon Boat Festival, the new immigration generation cannot lose their traditional culture. They should know about and celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival, the Dragon Boat Races, and eat traditional Zongzi. They are all important parts of traditional Chinese culture. While Chinatown in Chicago may not be the ideal place to hold the Dragon Boat Races or wrap Zongzi, the Chinese immigrants in this city should remember this festival and at least have a dinner with their family.