Thousands of miles from China, a 2,000-year-old tradition played out on June 13 in the parking lot of a church in Fort Myers.
"It's a story about righteousness and justice," said Colin Feng, a member of the Southwest Chinese Association.
That story is the Duanwu Festival, better known as the Dragon Boat Festival.
Observed on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar, it is celebrated by Chinese communities around the world.
Traditions vary by region, but many center on the story of Qu Yuan, a poet and government official who, according to legend, drowned himself in protest of corruption. Villagers rushed out in boats to save him but could not. To keep his body from fish, they threw rice into the river.
That offering is said to be the origin of zongzi — sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves and tied with string. At the event, organizers set up a station with rice, bamboo leaves, scissors and yarn so participants could make their own zongzi to take home.
The dragon boat races tell the same story. Only this time, there was no river. Instead, children climbed into inflatable boats in the Southwest Chinese Association church parking lot. Many have never seen the Yangtze River, where some of China’s best-known celebrations take place, but they raced anyway in honor of the tradition.
“Dragon boat enhances the togetherness of the people, more community-oriented, it's just harmony and peace and unity,” Feng said.
Feng said he hopes events like this help people see another side of Chinese culture.
“A lot of times you see Chinese culture, there's a lot of sadness in it,” he said. “But this is a fun event.”
The Dragon Boat Festival was added to UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009, recognizing its cultural significance.
For many in the diaspora community, celebrations like this preserve traditions while passing it to a new generation.
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