Life in Mainland China
Dragon Boat Festival: a Chinese conversation with pinyin
Dragon Boat Festival: 5th day of the 5th lunar month. Zongzi.
The conversation
Speakers: Haoran and Jiahao.
- Haoran
听见这阵鼓声了吗？
Hear that drumming?
- Jiahao
是赛龙舟的吗？我得赶紧去河边占个好位子！
Is that the dragon boat race? I've gotta run down to the river and grab a good spot!
- Haoran
龙头大船。我们工程单位今年还组了支队伍呢。
Those are the big dragon boats. Our engineering firm even put together a team this year.
- Jiahao
你们单位？天天跟图纸数据打交道的人也能划？
Your firm? Can guys who stare at blueprints and data all day actually row?
- Haoran
我们靠的是团队凝聚力和精神面貌。
We rely on team cohesion and morale.
- Jiahao
那你知道大家赛龙舟到底是在水里找谁吗？
Do you even know who everyone is looking for out there in the water?
- 诗人兼大臣屈原 The poet and statesman Qu Yuan
- 一个迷路的古代皇帝 A lost ancient emperor
- 东海龙王的女儿 The Dragon King of the East Sea's daughter
Answer
诗人兼大臣屈原 The poet and statesman Qu Yuan
- Haoran
屈原呗。他在公元前278年投了汨罗江。
Qu Yuan, obviously. He jumped into the Miluo River in 278 BC.
- Jiahao
大家才划船去救他，还往水里扔米团子不让鱼虾咬他。
So people rowed out to save him and threw rice dumplings in so the fish and shrimp wouldn't bite him.
- Haoran
说来说去，这不就该吃粽子了吗？
When it all comes down to it, isn't it just time to eat zongzi?
- Jiahao
说起粽子，你是甜党还是咸党？
Speaking of zongzi, are you Team Sweet or Team Savory?
- Haoran
必须红枣红豆甜粽，这才叫正宗北方人。
Red date and red bean sweet zongzi, all the way. That's how a real northerner does it.
- Jiahao
鲜肉蛋黄粽才是王道，懂不懂什么叫美食。
Fresh pork and egg yolk zongzi is the one true king. What do you even know about good food?
- Haoran
大过节的，门上刚挂了艾草和菖蒲，别逼我在门口跟你吵起来。
It's a holiday, we just hung mugwort and calamus on the door, so don't make me start a fight with you right here at the entrance.
- Jiahao
行，那你赶紧递个咸肉粽过来，我马上闭嘴。
Fine, hand me a savory pork zongzi then, and I'll shut up right now.
Words in the conversation
Notes
- When
- 5th day of the 5th lunar month
- On the table
- Zongzi
- Public holiday in mainland China
- Yes
Long boats with dragon heads race to drums on rivers and lakes, and families eat zongzi: sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves, sweet with red bean in the north, savoury with pork and salted egg yolk in the south. Bunches of mugwort are hung on doors.
The story
The festival remembers Qu Yuan, a poet and minister who drowned himself in the Miluo River around 278 BC. People raced boats to find him and threw rice into the water so the fish would leave his body alone.