Today Floyd and I traveled to the city of Lukang (pronounced "loo-gahng"), about an hour's drive south of here, to attend their annual Dragon Boat Festival celebration. It's something I've wanted to do since I first heard of the holiday six years ago, but we've usually already been in the States for the summer by the time. But since it's based on the lunar calendar, the exact date of Dragon Boat Festival varies from year to year, and this year we're staying in Taiwan a little later than usual. As a result, this time we were able to be here for it!
Some would say we were crazy to do something like this the day before flying out, but we purposely got ahead on our packing and cleaning, and it worked out just fine.
This was another way to beat the heat! Those teenagers were having a lot of fun in this bounce house/giant wading pool. I was tempted to jump in with them!
More fun for kids! (Notice the Oppa Gangnam Style balloons?!) Below: more adults were interested in the gorgeous hand painted lanterns and dragon-themed art for sale at this booth.
While people browsed the booths and ordered food and gift items, dragon boat races were going on in the background the whole time. Two boats would race each other and then get towed back to the starting point, and then two more, and so on. The guys at the back were using rudders to steer, and there was always a drummer at the front beating the rhythm so all the rowers would stay in sync.
When they got near the finish line, the people you see at the very front would balance on their tummies on the dragon's head and lean way out to reach for a little floating flag on a buoy. They would grab the flag and toss it in the air to show that their boat had finished the race.
Well, I've experienced my first Dragon Boat Festival in Taiwan. That's one more thing I can cross off my Bucket List! Now to discover if any place around here is actually open for dinner, and then finish the last of the laundry and packing. California, here we come!
This post is part of a blog hop. To enter your own blog in the hop, find out more, or take a look at other people's featured blog posts, click here.