Fu Hui Xichang Elite Class Dragon Boat Festival Activity
Savour the Cultural Heritage of the Dragon Boat Festival

On the 21st and the 23rd of June 2020, Fu Hui's program committee went to Liangshan Minority High School and Chuan Xing High School to hold themed events titled “Savour the Cultural Heritage of the Dragon Boat Festival”.  On the 22nd, they went to the Liangshan Minority Teaching School and held an event with the theme of “Celebrate Dragon Boat Festival, Honouring past legends, Appreciate the tradition”, spending a unique Dragon Boat Festival with the students.

What is the Dragon Boat Festival?

The purpose of this activity is to let the Starlets understand of the origin of this festival, its’ meaning and its tradition etc.

At the Chuan Xing High School Starlet Class, during the “How much do you know about the Dragon Boat Festival" segment, in order to stimulate the starlets’ interests and active participation and to make it more fun, the Starlets became junior teachers.  They were invited to go on stage to speak about the meaning of the festival.  Many Starlets raised their hands enthusiastically to volunteer.

Finally three Starlets were picked to speak about different aspects of the  subject matters, each using his/her own unique style to explain to an  attentive audience.

Learning about the Chinese Costumes with Personal Experience

At Liangshan Minority High School, we were very fortunate to be able to invite a teacher from the Jianchang Han Cultural Research Institute to speak to the Starlets about the Dragon Boat Festival.  Wearing a very elegant Han costume, besides knowledge about the Dragon Boat Festival, he also talked about Han costumes, traditional Chinese etiquette, and demonstrate how to pay respect. 

Another teacher from the Jianchang Han Cultural Research Institute went to Liangshan Minority Teaching School to share the knowledge of the origins of Han costumes and how it evolved.  From each of the two Starlet classes, he selected four students who most actively answered questions to wear the various types of Han costumes to participate in the Han costume experience segment.

Making of Sachets

In order for the Starlets to practice what they learn, the program committee staff  distributed to each Starlet materials for making sachets and taught them how to make one.  Most of the Starlets have not done this before and couldn’t wait to try their hands on it.

With needle and thread, stitching very carefully, they didn’t even mind if they pricked their own hands.  After twenty minutes, one by one the sachets took shape.  Looking at the sachets made by themselves, the Starlets all showed satisfying grins on their faces.

The Finale

Dragon Boat Festival would not be complete without the traditional dumplings.  At the last segment of the themed activity, the program committee staff distributed dumplings.  The Starlets all shared this thought:  “To me, this Dragon Boat Festival activity is unique.  Next time, I will learn how to wrap dumplings in order to experience the tradition of the Dragon Boat Festival.

“Celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival, honouring past legends, appreciate the tradition” activity at Liangshan Minority Teaching School closed with the Starlets presented their various talents for us after the distribution of dumplings.  This group of youth will all be kindergarten teachers, so they are all multi-talented.  There were singing, drama and dancing.  The solo dance “Big Fish Begonia” was the favourite.  Finally, the group singing of “the Grateful Heart” augmented with hand gestures ended this unforgettable activity.

Play the Video: Dance - Da Yu Hai Tang