The Dragon Boat Festival is a lunar holiday, occurring on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month

    The Chinese Dragon Boat Festival is a significant holiday celebrated in China, and the one with the longest history. The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated by boat races in the shape of dragons. Competing teams row their boats forward to a drumbeat racing to reach the finish end first.

    The boat races during the Dragon Boat Festival are traditional customs to attempts to rescue the patriotic poet Chu Yuan. Chu Yuan drowned on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month in 277 B.C. Chinese citizens now throw bamboo leaves filled with cooked rice into the water. Therefore the fish could eat the rice rather than the hero poet. This later on turned into the custom of eating tzungtzu and rice dumplings. The celebration's is a time for protection from evil and disease for the rest of the year. It is done so by different practices such as hanging healthy herbs on the front door, drinking nutritious concoctions, and displaying portraits of evil's nemesis, Chung Kuei. If one manages to stand an egg on it's end at exactly 12：00 noon, the following year will be a lucky one.

    Notesignificant：重要的　　drumbeat：鼓声，打鼓　　patriotic：爱国的concoction：调和物　　nemesis：报应风俗习惯

    Dragon Boat race Traditions At the center of this festival are the dragon boat races. Competing teams drive their colorful dragon boats forward to the rhythm of beating drums. These exciting races were inspired by the villager's valiant attempts to rescue Chu Yuan from the Mi Lo river. This tradition has remained unbroken for centuries.

    Tzung Tzu A very popular dish during the Dragon Boat festival is tzung tzu. This tasty dish consists of rice dumplings with meat, peanut, egg yolk, or other fillings wrapped in bamboo leaves. The tradition of tzung tzu is meant to remind us of the village fishermen scattering rice across the water of the Mi Low river in order to appease the river dragons so that they would not devour Chu Yuan.

    Ay Taso The time of year of the Dragon Boat Festival, the fifth lunar moon, has more significance than just the story of Chu Yuan. Many Chinese consider this time of year an especially dangerous time when extra efforts must be made to protect their family from illness. Families will hang various herbs, called Ay Tsao, on their door for protection. The drinking of realgar wine is thought to remove poisons from the body. Hsiang Bao are also worn. These sachets contain various fragrant medicinal herbs thought to protect the wearer from illness.

    风俗习惯端午节最重要的活动是龙舟竞赛，比赛的队伍在热烈的鼓声中划著他们多彩的龙舟前进。这项活动的灵感是来自於当时汨罗江畔的居民，在江中划船救屈原，而这个传统也一直保持了数个世纪。在端午节时受欢迎的食物就是粽子，粽子是以米包著肉、花生、蛋黄及其他材料，再以竹叶包裹。而粽子的传统则来由於汨罗江边的渔夫，将米丢入江中平息江中的蛟龙，希望他们不要将屈原吃掉。农历的五月，也就是端午节的这个时节，对中国人而言，除了屈原的故事还有许多其他重要的意义。许多中国人相信五月是一年中容易引发疾病的危险时节，因此必须有许多防备家人生病的措施。许多家庭会将一种特别的植物-艾草挂在门口，作为保护之用，而人们也会挂带香包，它是以含有多种香味的药用植物所做成，也可以保护人们远离疾病。

    Traditions/Vocabulary race比赛（名词）

    The races were very exciting because the cars were very fast and loud.那个比赛非常刺激，因为那些车子非常的快速而且大声。

    competing竞争的（形容词）

    All of the competing race car drivers are very skilled.所有竞争的赛车选手都有高超的技术。rhythm节奏（名词）

    I like to dance to the rhythm of this music.我喜欢随著音乐的节奏跳舞。

    inspire启发灵感（动词）

    The beautiful scenery inspired me to write this song.这美丽的风景启发我写这首歌曲的灵感

    villager村民、乡民（名词）

    During our travels we found the villagers to be very friendly and helpful.在我们的旅程中，我发现乡民们非常友善及热心。

    valiant英勇的（形容词）

    The valiant hero saved the little girl's life.那个英勇的英雄拯救了小女孩的生命。

    remain 留下、保持原状（动词）

    he had completed the report.他留在办公室直到完成报告。

    Tzung Tzu粽子（名词）

    He ate so much Tzung Tzu that he became sick.他因为吃太多粽子而感到身体不适。

    wrap包裹（动词）

    She wrapped the Christmas presents with colorful paper.他用彩色的纸包裹圣诞礼物。

    The man is scattering seeds on the grass for the birds to eat.那个男人将种子洒在地上给鸟吃。

    devour狼吞虎咽的吃，吃光（动词）

    The lion devoured the food.那只狮子狼吞虎咽的吃那些食物。

    significance重要性（名词）

    Do you understand the significance of this story？你知道这个故事的重要性吗？

    Ay Tsao艾草（名词）

    Every year my family hangs Ay Tsao on their front door.每年我的家人都会挂艾草在前门。

    Hsiang Bao香包（名词）

    The children love to collect the colorful Hsiang Bao.小孩喜欢蒐集鲜艳的香包。

    People drink realgar wine to protect themselves from illness.人们喝雄黄酒保护自己免於生病。

    sachet香包、香袋

    The sachets are very fragrant.那些香包很香。

    Those flowers are very fragrant. 那些花很香。

    白蛇传的故事

    There is a very famous traditional Chinese story that has a close connection to the Dragon Boat Festival. Once upon a time on E-Mei mountain there lived two snake spirits, White Snake and Green Snake. These snakes, being magical, turned themselves into beautiful maidens and set off on a journey to the West Lake of Hang Zhou.

    When they arrived at West Lake they met a man named Xu Xian. White Snake quickly fell in love with Xu Xian and they were soon married. A Buddhist monk, named Fa Hai, warned Xu Xian of his wife's deceptive appearance and suggested to him a plan.

    On the day of the Dragon Boat Festival White Snake wished to stay home so as to avoid the Ay Tsao, used for protection from spirits, hanging on the doors of people's houses. Her husband prepared, according to Fa Hai's instruction, some realgar wine, as this was a tradition during the Dragon boat festival. White Snake, thinking her magic would protect her from the effects of the realgar wine accepted a cup. After she drank the wine she became very ill and was barely able to get to her bed.

    When her husband came to her side, he found not his wife but a huge white snake. So great was Xu Xian's shock that he fell to the floor dead.

    After recovering from the realgar wine and regaining her human form, White Snake was grief-stricken to find her husband dead. She set off on a journey to obtain a potent medicinal herb, which could revive her husband. After returning and reviving her husband with the medicine, she explained to Xu Xian that the white snake he saw was actually a dragon and that this vision was indeed a very good omen. Xu Xain's fears were put to rest for the moment by his wife's fanciful story…

    白蛇传另一个与端午节息息相关的中国传统故事是「白蛇传」。从前，在伊眉山上有两只蛇精，白蛇与青蛇。这两只蛇精运用法力将自己变成美丽的女子，并到杭州西湖游玩。

    当他们在西湖游玩时，遇到一位名叫许仙的男子，白蛇与许仙很快的相恋并且随即结婚。当时一位名叫法海的和尚，曾经警告许仙注意他妻子惑人的外表，并建议他一个知道真相的计画。端午节当天，白蛇待加家里以避开人们挂在门上驱邪的艾草，而许仙则依照法海的建议准备了大家在端午节时都会喝的雄黄酒。白蛇自认魔力可以抵挡雄黄酒对他的影响，因此喝了一杯。但是在他喝下那杯酒之後，他却变得精疲力竭，几乎走不到床上。当许仙回到白蛇身边，看到的不是自己美丽的妻子，而是一只巨大的白蛇，许仙震惊不已且跳楼自杀。

    当白蛇恢复精力及人形时，他才发现自己丈夫已经身亡，因此白蛇外出寻找能使许仙起死回生的强效药草。许仙在服用药草，并起死回生之後，白蛇告诉许仙他看到的那条白蛇，其实是一只代表吉相的龙。而在那时，许仙也在白蛇引人入胜的故事中将恐惧抛诸脑後…。

    Story of White Snake/Vocabulary magical魔术般的（形容词）

    The eight immortals in the Taoist legends have magical powers.道教中的的八仙有魔力

    maiden少女（名词）

    The prince rescued the beautiful maiden from the monster.王子由怪兽手中救出美丽的少女。

    journey旅行（名词）

    Would you like to join us on our journey？你想参与我们的旅行吗？

    buddhist佛教的（形容词）

    Many people go to that Buddhist temple on the weekends.许多人在周末到佛教的寺院去。

    monk僧侣（名词）

    That monk lives a very quiet and peaceful life.那位僧侣过著平静的生活。

    deceptive迷惑的、骗人的（形容词）

    I believe that the advertising is a little deceptive.我相信广告总是有一些骗人。

    grief-stricken极度悲伤的（形容词）

    He was grief-stricken when he heard about his friend's accident.当他听到朋友的意外时，他极度的悲伤。

    potent强力的（形容词）

    The poison of the snake is a very potent.那只蛇的毒很强。

    omen兆头（名词）

    Ancient people thought a lunar eclipse was a bad omen.古代的人们相信月蚀是一种坏的预兆。