Skip to main content

端午 Dragon Boat Festival resources


  • CalendarAvailable on request
  • Clock outlineFlexible

Image by melaniko from Pixabay.

The Dragon Boat Festival, ‘Duanwu’ or 端午, is an important traditional festival in China and many other Asian countries.

The festival is actually a celebration of the ancient Chinese poet Qu Yuan who, according to legend, drowned in a river during the ‘Warring States’ period (c. 475 to 221 BCE). It is said that after discovering what had happened, local people frantically raced their boats to search for him, dropping lumps of rice into the river in the process so that fish would not feast on his body.

This is the reason that so many boat races are held at this time, and why families make and eat ‘zongzi’ - a kind of sticky rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves.

As Qu Yuan is said to have drowned on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar, then the festival is held every year on this day. The date changes for those of us who use other calendars however so in 2022, the festival lands on 3 June.

Dragon Boat Festival Activities Day 2022

On 27 May, pupils enjoyed live interactive online sessions with Cardiff Confucius Institute tutors at our Dragon Boat Festival Activities Day.

At special sessions for key stages 1, 2 and 3, children discovered the origins of the event, learnt some Mandarin words & phrases related to the festival, found out what Chinese people eat and even made paper 'zongzi' (wrapped rice dumplings)!

Videos of the sessions:

Key Stage 1Key Stage 2Key Stage  3
Traditions & customs of the Dragon Boat FestivalIntroduction to the Dragon Boat FestivalCustoms & traditions of the Dragon Boat Festival
Basic Mandarin class for key stage 1 pupilsBasic Mandarin class for key stage 2 pupilsBasic Mandarin class for key stage 3 pupils
Traditional Chinese paper-cuttingMaking paper dragon boats & zongziMaking 'zongzi' using the art of Chinese paper folding

To find all videos visit our YouTube Dragon Boat Festival 2022 playlist.

Download and access more resources

Find out more about other opportunities from our Wales China Schools project.

Image by melaniko from Pixabay.

Find out more

For more information about the activity, please visit our website.


About the organiser

This activity is organised by Cardiff Confucius Institute. Contact Victoria Ucele at confucius@cardiff.ac.uk for more details.

How to book

These online Dragon Boat Festival activities can be used by school pupils either in class, with their families or by themselves.

Emailconfucius@cardiff.ac.uk


TicketThis activity is free

GlobeAccess the activity resources online

Audience

  • TickTeachers
  • TickFamilies
  • TickFoundation - ages 3-7, foundation year and years 1 and 2
  • TickKey stage two - ages 7-11, years 3-6
  • TickKey stage three - ages 11-14, years 7-9
  • TickKey stage four - ages 14-16, years 10-11
  • TickKey stage five - ages 16-18, years 12-13

Teacher supervision is required.


Curriculum themes

  • TickExpressive arts
  • TickHealth and wellbeing
  • TickHumanities
  • TickLanguages, literacy and communication
  • TickSocial sciences
  • TickExtracurricular

Activity type

  • TickActivity
  • TickOnline resource

Purpose

  • TickExtracurricular or independent learning
  • TickSupporting curriculum themes
  • TickWidening university participation

Share this event


Partners

  • British Council Wales
  • Hanban
  • Welsh Government