The Dragon Boat Races are part of a larger festival held in basically any country with a significant enough Chinese population (from what I've read, thats about 60 countries) but the largest and most extravagant of the festivals are held right here in Hong Kong. Legend has it, as I'm told by Nicholas' and my friend Mr. Eric Ma, that thousands of years ago, a great Chinese official in the Ming Dynasty stood up against the Emperor and the other officials and demanded that the corruption stop. He was ignored and scorned and so he drowned himself in the ocean as a protest to the corruption and evil of the government. The people were greatly distraught that one of the only officials who had tried to work for their good was dead, and so was born the festival of the Dragon Boat Races. The paddles of the boats, along with the beating of ceremonial drums, were meant to scare the fish away. During this festival, people make rice dumplings; rice and whatever other ingredients they want (the one I had was filled with pork fat, nuts and some other bits and pieces that I was unable to identify) all wrapped up in bamboo leaves. Tradition has it that the dumplings were dropped into the water as food for the fishes, to prevent them from eating the body of the people's hero.
The Dragon Boat Races were yesterday down at Stanley Beach. I did not attend them because it was a 45 minute bus ride from my home and I didnt want to get lost in that crowd alone (festivals like these tend to bring a long of the Chinese Mainlanders over and they can be a LOT more pushy and grabby than Hong Kong natives.) I did, however, borrow some photos from google just to give you an idea of all the ruckus.
On another note, here are some photos that I did take the other night for our friend Heather Hughes going away party, so to speak. She'll be back in a few weeks after her sister's wedding.
Best Spicy Squid Ever
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