Tainan’s 2008 Dragon Boat Festival was held yesterday at the Anping Tainan Canal with both the NCKU IIMBA students and NCKU Chinese Language Center participating.
The Duanwu Festival is a Chinese traditional and statutory holiday. It is a public holiday in mainland China and in Taiwan, where it is known as the “Duanwu Festival”.
The Duanwu Festival originated in ancient China. There are a number of theories about its origins. Today, the most commonly accepted version relates to the death of poet Qu Yuan in 278 BC despite a number of competing theories.
There was a big festival of street food next to the canal…
The main stage included some performances and nearby was a worship temple for the Gods of the sea.
The sun was shining, it was a beautiful day, the river looked absolutely gorgeous.
The competitors were preparing for the big race…
Then, onto the boats…
And the race is on…
That was the IIMBA guys racing and winning against two other teams. Here’s some more foreigner teams from English schools in Tainan going strong.
Good fun.