The Dragon Boat Festival (aka Double Fifth Festival) is a special time of year, during which Taiwan gets a major holiday vacation and there are Dragon Boat Races. During this time, people also must eat Zongzi. We have created this guide for you to see the official dragon boat races all around Taiwan and understand more about this special cultural festival.
Historical Background: Originally Dragon Boat Festival may have started during the Qin Dynasty as a day to remove evil spirits and bad luck that were thought to appear on the fifth day of the fifth month. The best known origin story for the Dragon Boast Festival is that it commemorates the death of Qu Yuan, a famous poet and official of the Chu Dynasty during the Warring States Period. He opposed the Chu Dynasty joining an alliance with the Qin, and therefore was banished. When the Qin Dynasty finally took over the Chu Dynasty, he committed suicide by entering the Miluo River (汨羅江 Mìluójiāng) and drowning himself. It was said that the local people went looking for him by rowing dragon shaped canoes, and threw sticky rice balls into the water so that the fish would eat the rice and not Qu Yuan's body. Because of this, during Dragon Boat Festival everyone eats stick rice, or Zongzi, and holds dragon boat races to commemorate Qu Yuan's memory. Another tradition is for people to balance eggs, which is thought to bring good luck during the "unlucky" holiday. Dragon Boat races usually involve a team rowing together, while someone beats a drum to keep rhythm and someone else stands at the front of the boat to catch the flag. Dragon Boat Festival is an official holiday in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, China, and is celebrated by Chinese heritage communities throughout Asia and the world. When is Dragon Boat Festival? The fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar. 2022: June 3rd 2023: June 22nd 2024: June 10th 2025: May 31st 2025: June 19th 2026: June 9th When are Dragon Boat Races in Taiwan? Training starts about a month before Dragon Boat Festival The actual races begin a few days before or on Dragon Boat Festival, and can last a few days after as well. Races usually last the whole day. Where are Dragon Boat Races in Taiwan? Taipei International Dragon Boat Championships: 國際龍舟錦標賽 Dates: (June 3-June 6 2022) Location: Dajie Riverside Park 大佳河濱公園 (under Dazhi Bridge going to Neihu near the airport along the Keelung River. There is parking at the riverside park, but it can get very crowded late in the day). Keelung Dragon Boat Festival 基隆龍舟競賽 Dates: (June 3 2022) Held at Badouzi Harbor 八斗子 Hsinchu County Dragon Boat Festival 新竹縣縣長盃龍舟競賽 Dates: (June 3 2022) Held at No. 156 Chifu Road Hsinfeng Township, at the pond in front of Chihe Temple. 新豐鄉新豐村十五鄰池府路一五六號池和宮前池和湖舉行 Miaoli Dragon Boat Races 苗栗龍舟賽 Dates: (June 3 2022) Held at dragon boat ferry dock along the Zhonggang River in Zhunan. 竹南鎮港墘里中港溪畔的龍舟碼頭 Changhua Taiwan International Dragon Boat Races 台灣國際競技龍舟錦標賽 Dates: (June 1-June 3 2022) Location: Lukang, along the FuLu River near Lukang Old Street (彰化福鹿溪水域) Yunlin Dragon Boat Races 雲林龍舟賽 Dates: (June 3, 11-12 PM 2022) Location: Kouhu Township, Yiwu Wet Pond at the north pond (本縣口湖鄉宜梧滯洪池北池) Chiayi Dragon Boat Races 嘉義龍舟比賽 Dates: (closed in 2022 due to COVID) Location: Dongshi Harbor 東石漁港 Tainan International Dragon Boat Championships: 台南市國際龍舟賽 Dates: (closed in 2022 due to COVID) Location: Yunhe River in Tainan Between Anyi Bridge and Chengtian Bridge, near Anping Old Street 臺南市運河（安億橋至承天橋河段） Kaohsiung Love River Dragon Boat Festival: 高雄愛河端午龍舟嘉年華 Dates: (June 3-June 5 2022) Location: The Love River between Kaohsiung Bridge and Zhongzheng Bridge (愛河， 高雄橋-中正橋). Pingtung County Dragon Boat Race 屏東縣端午龍舟競賽 Dates: (June 2- June 3 2022) Location: Underneath Donggang Great Bridge in Donggang (東港大橋). Yilan County Dragon Boat Race 宜蘭縣端午龍舟競賽 Dates: (closed in 2022 due to COVID) Location: Dongshi Harbor 東石漁港 Along the Yilan River near Qinghe Bridge 宜蘭河慶和橋 Hualien County Dragon Boat Race 花蓮縣端午龍舟競賽 Dates: (June 3 - June 4 2022) Location: Liyu Lake 鯉魚潭 Penghu County Dragon Boat Festival 澎湖縣龍舟競賽 Dates: (June 3 2022) Location: Makung No. 3 Harbor (澎湖縣馬公第3漁港). Kinmen County Dragon Boat Festival 金門縣龍舟競賽 Dates: (June 3 2022) Location: Guningtou Shuangli Lake (金門縣金寧鄉古寧頭雙鯉湖). Map: Please see below for a map of dragon boat racing locations.
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Tainan green tunnel is famous for its beautiful green waterway surrounded by overgrowth to become a literal tunnel. One would think that this place was a pristine natural wonderland, but actually it is not. Keep reading. With no expectations other than seeing the photo, we visited the place with open minds. Below we have detailed our experience.
Background: The Sicao wetlands are a protected area of 515 hectares, designated to protect the habitat and wildlife from encroachment by nearby industrial parks and factories. The area has a long history of Taiwan Aboriginal habitation, and then being an economic center settled by Fujian fisherman, Dutch, Chinese, then Japanese, and now the ROC (see further down for a more complete history of the area). Price: 200 NT per person Hours: 8:30AM to 4PM every day Getting There: Driving a car, we simply used GPS to find the place, which consist of a Daoist temple, parking lot, shops, and ferry terminals (No. 360, Dazhong Road, Annan District, Tainan City, 709 台南市安南區大眾街360號). There is also a large temple in front of the river, Dazhong Temple (大衆廟), that according to our tour guide was supposedly 300 years old. Behind the temple is also the Qing era Sicao Fort（四草炮臺）which we will not cover in this blog. You can also get there via Tainan city bus no. 2. Map: |
Author 作家We are US Expats that have extensive experience living, working, and travelling in Taiwan. In our day, we had to learn many things about Taiwan the hard way. But we have come to learn that Taiwan is one of the best places in the world for Foreigners to live. Our blog does not represent the opinions of every foreigner in Taiwan. We are just trying to help others learn more about this beautiful country. Archives 檔案
February 2023
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