• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

YeinJee's Asian blog

Asian Culture, Lifestyle and Entertainment

Dragon Boat Festival, zongzi, bakchang

June 9, 2008 by Yein Jee

The Dragon Boat Festival (Duanwu Festival) is celebrated by the Chinese on the fifth day of the fifth month on the Chinese calendar (June 8 this year).

The festival is celebrated to commemorate ancient poet Qu Yuan, who jumped into a river and killed himself after his country was conquered by the other.

Locals who admired his patriotism fed rice dumplings to the fishes in the river which he committed suicide so that the fish would not disturb his body… some others also rode on boats and beating on drums to scare away the fishes for the same purpose.

My homemade rice dumpings
My homemade bakchang

These acts are still practiced by the Chinese these days, albeit heavily modified. People these days would take part in dragon boat race and eat traditional rice dumplings called zongzi to celebrate the festival.

Dragon boat race is a huge tourist attraction in some places (Hong Kong, Taiwan etc.) during the festival each year.

Zongzi and Bakchang

Zongzi is made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo leaves. Different region would have their own uniqueness in terms of flavours and shapes. It can be plain, sweet or salty.

The common zongzi that we made at home here is stuffed with nuts and meat. We normally called it bakchang literally meat-zongzi in Hokkien dialect).

Btw, my Chinese birthday is one the same day with this festival… we don’t often celebrate birthday according to Chinese calendar though.

Filed Under: My Food Journal Tagged With: Asian events, China blog, Chinese Events, Chinese Food, Chinese Traditions, Hong Kong, Taiwan blog

Primary Sidebar

About

Yein Jee is a Malaysian traveller, food lover & self proclaimed entrepreneur. This blog is about Asian culture, lifestyle, travel, food, fun and entertainment ... Read More...

Footer

Latest Personal Posts

Happy CNY 2019 and Good Health

Happy Chinese New Year and Happy Lunar New Year. Traditional CNY greetings are usually about wealth and prosperity, but I prefer to wish everyone good health … [Read More...] about Happy CNY 2019 and Good Health

The journey so far, going forward, and rebuilding the blog

This will be the final year of my 30's. Time flies, and it seems to fade faster as one gets older. This post is a bit of recap of my adult life and some future … [Read More...] about The journey so far, going forward, and rebuilding the blog

ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Entertainment Posts

Top Gun: Maverick movie trailer is beautiful

Trailer for American film Top Gun: Maverick, a sequel to 1986's Top Gun. Beautiful is not the usual word to associate with action movies, but I cannot find a better … [Read More...] about Top Gun: Maverick movie trailer is beautiful

Godzilla: King of the Monsters movie trailer

Trailer for American monster film Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Directed by Michael Dougherty and stars Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, Bradley … [Read More...] about Godzilla: King of the Monsters movie trailer

Latest General Posts

Malaysia Covid-19 lockdown – Thank you, stay safe, good luck

Malaysia will be in lockdown from March 18 to March 31, 2020, to deal with the Covid-19 situation. Officially it's a Movement Control Order (MCO) but it's … [Read More...] about Malaysia Covid-19 lockdown – Thank you, stay safe, good luck

Kpop idol Sulli found dead, apparent suicide

Korean pop idol Sulli, former member of girl group f(x), was found dead at her home on Monday. Authorities are investigating the cause of death, and it's presumed … [Read More...] about Kpop idol Sulli found dead, apparent suicide

Latest Offbeat Posts

Singapore queued for last bubble tea before tightened lockdown

Singapore has imposed the circuit breaker measures to curb the spread of Covid-19 since early April. They announced an extension (until June 1) and some new rules a … [Read More...] about Singapore queued for last bubble tea before tightened lockdown

An Officer and a Gentle Cat

A cute photo series amidst the Covid-19 lockdown in Malaysia. Armed forces are present to assist the police to enforce the Movement Control Order (MCO) across the … [Read More...] about An Officer and a Gentle Cat

Home - About/Contact - Terms/Privacy

  • Latest
  • Lifestyle
  • Entertainment
  • Offbeat
  • General
  • About/Contact