Stratford School students at our Mandarin language offering campuses are celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival with exciting, enriching, and fun activities, that embrace Chinese culture and traditions.

What is the Dragon Boat Festival? 

China hosts a beautiful blend of tradition and modernity through Chinese customs and celebrations. The Lunar New Year often conjures up concepts of Chinese holidays, but there are many other holidays and festivals. This summer, little ones can delight in learning more about China through The Dragon Boat Festival. 

The Dragon Boat Festival (端午节 or Duānwǔjié in pīnyīn) is an official public holiday in Mainland China. Though many other Asian countries and regions also celebrate this festival. In Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Taiwan, China, it is known as Bak Chang Festival (‘Dumpling Festival’). This traditional holiday, also called the Double Fifth Festival, is celebrated on the 5th day of the 5th month of the Chinese lunar calendar (called 农历 or nónglì in Chinese). This year, we celebrate on June 22nd. 

The festival commemorates Qu Yuan, a writer and a government leader who lived a long time ago and died because he loved his country very much in the Milu River. It was said that the local people began the tradition of throwing cooked rice into the river. 

How to Celebrate Today

• Make Sticky Rice Dumplings (Zongzi), or check out local spots with the best ones. These sweet or savory, glutinous bites are sure to provide a delicious treat for all ages! Please click here for a video of how to make Zong zi. 
• Make Your Own Mini Dragon Boat. Read for your own Dragon Boat Race. For a simple boat, grab a pool noodle from your local bargain store and decorate. For a fun tutorial for all ages, check out this blog post from So Dang Fun. 
• Host Your Own Mini Dragon Boat Race. Once your boat is decorated, grab some straws, a container with water, and your lungs to blow the boats as fast as possible. 
• Read About the Festival. We love the following books for preschool ages:

1. • Gung Ho! A Dragon Boat Story by Susan Hughes
   • Celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival by Sanmu Tang

And the following books for elementary ages:

• The Legend of the Dragon Boat by Slong
• Moonbeams, Dumplings & Dragon Boats: A Treasury of Chinese Holiday Tales, Activities & Recipes by Nina Simonds

Attend the Dragon Boat Festival Near You. There are still some upcoming festivals across the country that you can attend to see the sights, sounds, and exciting boat races or enjoy watching previous races — don’t forget to load up on your delicious dumplings. 

For more information about Stratford School’s Mandarin Bilingual Preschool programs, please visit https://www.stratfordschools.com/our-programs/mandarin-bilingual. To continue our students’ Mandarin language learning all the way from Preschool through High School, Mandarin Specialty Language programs are also available at our Palo Alto, San Francisco 14th Ave (Elementary Bilingual), San Jose Almaden, Sunnyvale Washington Park, and Stratford Preparatory. Visit our locations page to learn more.