eating of zongzi- a sushi type dish consisting of sweet, sticky rice wrapped around various fruit, nut, or meat fillings. A student brought plenty of them to work. They are quite good and very filling!
Dragon Boat Racing- this I didn't get to see
Remembering of the story of Qu Yuan- We did this at EF through a drama in which I was chosen to play the guard.
The Drama Team
Accepting Poison Wine To Kill Qu Yuan
Arresting Qu Yuan
Here is an explanation of the story from Wikipedia:
"The best-known traditional story holds that the festival commemorates the death of poet Qu Yuan (c. 340 BC - 278 BC) of the ancient state of Chu, in the Warring States Period of the Zhou Dynasty.[4] A descendant of the Chu royal house, Qu served in high offices. However, when the king decided to ally with the increasingly powerful state of Qin, Qu was banished for opposing the alliance. Qu Yuan was accused of treason.[4] During his exile, Qu Yuan wrote a great deal of poetry, for which he is now remembered. Twenty-eight years later, Qin conquered the Chu capital. In despair, Qu Yuan committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth month.
It is said that the local people, who admired him, threw food into the river to feed the fish so that they would not eat Qu Yuan's body.[4] This is said to be the origin of zongzi. The local people were also said to have paddled out on boats, either to scare the fish away or to retrieve his body. This is said to be the origin of dragon boat racing."
Even though I didn't see a Dragon Boat race, I did buy a dragon boat. Last Sunday a Chinese woodcarver was at my church. His carvings combine Christian traditions and stories with traditional Chinese art and culture. I fell in love with the Noah's Ark Dragon Boat that came with animals that represent the years in the Chinese calendar. Imagine being a Chinese child and hearing the story of Noah's Ark, this is probably what you would picture in your mind:
After a relaxing day that consisted of exchanging money, massage, and Mexican food, I met up with teachers from several EF schools for a delicious dinner at the Golden Peacock Yunnan Restaurant. Everything was wonderful: fish, chicken, fried potatos, various vegetables including a strange mashed potato dish with spices and chunks of peppers. The spices gave it a brown color and with the veggie chunks it looked like something my dog puked up one time but tasted awesome!
One of the house specialties is pineapple rice, cooked and served in a hollowed out pineapple- delicious!
The next holiday I celebrate will be fourth of July in the U.S. There is more to come, so don't stop reading!
1 comment:
Love getting to read your blog, the pineapple rice sounds yummy! Looks like your having some good times be proud cause not many ppl can or would leave and go to Bejing. I'm proud of you and so glad you getting to enjoy another culture, wish I would've done something like this, you'll have a lifetime of wonderful stories to share! Espescially since you're going to be an Uncle, I know you're gonna be a great one too! ~Emily
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