Dragon Boat Festival is called ” Duān Wǔ Jié” 端午節(traditional Chinese writing form)|端午节(simplified Chinese writing form).
I have written a bilingual story for young readers to explore this magnificent cultural festival in English and Chinese.
A special thanks go to my artist friend, Matt Cox. The dragon boat and dragon illustration are gorgeous. You can print them out for coloring activity.
Simple with short sentences, this story is filled with cultural information and key expressions that can be used often. It comes with audio support so you can read along with Miss Panda! Download this English-Chinese bilingual Dragon Boat Festival eBook.
Dragon Boat Festival: A Bilingual E-book in English, Chinese, and Pinyin (Traditional Chinese edition & Simplified Chinese edition ) @Artist: Matt Cox
Learn all 37 Mandarin sounds with ease along with First Chinese Words – all in “First Mandarin Sounds: An Awesome Chinese Word Book” by Miss Panda. Read Today! Traditional Chinese version | Simplified Chinese version
The best way to keep your heritage strong at home is to use stories and activities to give children a fun experience. Please read the story for their friends, invite their friends over for a cultural activity, and enjoy a traditional dish to wrap up the celebration.
Exploring the world with stories is an engaging way to learn about a culture, festival, and celebration. Children love stories. Even simple short stories can inspire them to learn something new about a culture.
Check out picture books for kids, bilingual parenting books for parents, and gift ideas for world-cultural explorers and families!
Qu Yuan
The first thing you need to know about the Dragon Boat festival is the beloved patriotic poet and a minister, Qu Yuan 屈原 in Warring States (403-340 BC) in ancient China.
Qu Yuan was loved by his fellow citizens but he was alienated by the emperor and then was in exile. When his country was taken over by the Qing years later. When the news reached the patriot and poet, Qu Yuan was very heartbroken so he jumped into Mi Lou River 汨羅江 | 汨罗江 and drowned.
His followers were shocked to hear about what Qu Yuan did. They hurried out to the sea and tried to search for him. People took the long big boat out on a rescue mission to hopefully locate Qu Yuan.
They beat the drums and they threw rice wrapped in bamboo leaves into the river to prevent fish from eating Qu Yuan’s body. This gradually became the Dragon Boat race we see today to commemorate the patriotic poem.
Gift the Gift of Connection! Little Bun: A Bilingual Storybook About Feelings by Miss Panda and her daughter, Emily (also, the illustrator) invite you to meet Little Bun. Read it today with your child! Traditional Chinese version | Simplified Chinese version
Dragon Boat race
is now an international event held in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and many international cities. Watch the Dragon Boat race events in the videos below and experience the excitement!
My kids and I did a Dragon Boat race a few years ago. It was a family-fun version of the race. We experienced the race on a huge river and learned it was not as easy as it looked on the television. It takes teamwork, a lot of teamwork!
The drummer leads the team. The team needs to work together to reach the flag. It was an amazing experience!
Let’s check out the Dragon Boat Race tournament in China first.
Training of a Dragon Boat Race team and Making of Miniature Dragon Boats
10 Taiwan Festivals You Can’t-Miss！ by A Laowai’s View of Taiwan: In addition to the Dragon Boat Festival, what other festivals in Taiwan you should know about? Find out here:
Learn More About Dragon Boat Festival, Duan Wu Jie
I have put together featured fun facts about the Dragon Boat Festival here. You can guide kids to explore the folktale of the White Snake. You can make traditional sachets with Chinese herbs. And shows you can watch as a family to enhance cultural understanding and learning.
the image on top of the page by Chien Liang Kuo
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More to explore from previous years!
Welcome to our fourth annual Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month Blog Series and Giveaway! Follow along all month for ideas about sharing with kids the rich cultures of this vast and varied region. Also, be sure to enter the giveaway below and link up your posts at the bottom of the page.
For even more ideas, visit our blog hops from last year, 2015 and 2014. You can also follow our Asia and Australia & Oceania boards on Pinterest.
May 1
Miss Panda Chinese on Multicultural Kid Blogs: 10 Fun Facts About Taiwan for Kids
May 5
Chinese American Family: Visiting Locke and Connecting with California’s Rural Chinese History
May 11
The Art Curator for Kids: Chinese Bronze Vessels with Abstract Zoomorphic Designs
May 15
Crafty Moms Share: Our Japanese Tea Party
May 17
Bicultural Mama: The Limitations of DNA Testing for Asian Americans
May 19
Wise Owl Factory: Cherry Blossom Books and Craft Idea
May 22
Ketchup Moms on Multicultural Kid Blogs: Fun Facts About India Including a Floating Post Office
May 24
All Done Monkey: Terracotta Army – Learning About Ancient China
May 25
Miss Panda Chinese
May 30
All Done Monkey
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Giveaway
Enter below for a chance to win one of our great prize packages in our annual Asian Pacific American Heritage Month giveaway! The giveaway goes from May 1 to May 31, 2017, at midnight PT. If the winner falls outside the shipping area of a prize, that prize will revert to the next lower prize package. Read our full giveaway rules.
And for all of our readers, here is a special offer from our sponsor Tingomo! Use the code TENOFFTINGOMO to get 10% off any pre-order! (first kits to ship in July)
Grand Prize
From One Dear World: Set of 4 plush multicultural dolls, each with its own passport, plus the story book The Adventure of Hat Hunting in London, starring the dolls as the main characters
From Tuttle Publishing: Adventures in Asian Art, Indonesian Children’s Favorite Stories, Malaysian Children’s Favorite Stories, and Filipino Children’s Favorite Stories
From Wisdom Tales: Rock Maiden – US Shipping Only
From Bollywood Groove: Go on a fun adventure with Maya & Neel and learn about famous festivals and places in India! In this very colorful, three-picture-book series, kids will learn about festival of lights – Diwali (Amazon best-seller), festival of colors – Holi and the home of Bollywood – city of Mumbai. US Shipping Only
From Miss Panda Chinese: Winner’s choice of an “Everyday” learning unit with audio links
From Tingomo: Passport Craft™ Kit: Make Your Own NEPAL Paper Lanterns US Shipping Only, will ship in July
1st Prize
From World Music with Daria: set of tingsha (handbells) US Shipping Only
From Quarto Knows: Summer Under the Tamarind Tree, I is for Iran, and 50 Things You Should Know About the Vietnam War – US Shipping Only
From Monika Schröder: Saraswati’s Way – US Shipping Only
From Miss Panda Chinese: Winner’s choice of an “Everyday” learning unit with audio links
From Tingomo: Passport Craft™ Kit: Make Your Own NEPAL Paper Prayer Flags US Shipping Only, will ship in July
2nd Prize
From The Dumpling Mama: Pack of 20 good luck envelopes: Give good luck wishes with money in a red envelope. Perfect for Lunar New Year, birthdays, graduations, and holidays US/Canada Shipping Only
From Kathleen Burkinshaw: The Last Cherry Blossom – US Shipping Only
From Candlewick Press: A Piece of Home and Bronze and Sunflower – US Shipping Only
From Miss Panda Chinese: Winner’s choice of an “Everyday” learning unit with audio links
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