Dragon Boat Races

Hong Kong’s dragon boat races commemorate the aquatic suicide of an upright regional governor, Qu Tuan, who jumped into a river in central China in 278 BC rather than live to see his home state invaded by a neighbouring province’s army. Distraught locals raced to save him in their boats, but were too late; later on, they threw packets of sticky rice into the river as an offering to his ghost. 

There are festivities all over China on May 31st remembering the uncompromising Qu Yuan, but the race in Hong Kong’s Stanley Harbour is one of the best, with huge quantities of sticky rice consumed and some fierce competition between the dragon-boat teams, who speed their narrow vessels across the harbour to the steady boom of pacing drums. To soak up the best of the buzz, go down to the waterside with a cold beer and take in the festive atmosphere, through you’ll need to get up early to catch the dedication ceremonies of the dragon-head prows. The celebrations carry on through the evening, with firecrackers and traditional dragon dances.