Unique Indonesian Dragon Boat Festival Traditions: Water-Splashing Parties, Water Balloon Fights, and Duck Catching?
The Dragon Boat Festival is approaching, have you all eaten delicious rice dumplings? I believe everyone is also curious, is there a tradition of celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival in Indonesia? Let Claire answer them for you!
In Indonesia, the Dragon Boat Festival is generally called Perayaan Peh Cun or Hari Bakcang, and the local Hakka people also call it Ng Nyiet Ciet. In Tangerang City, which is next to the capital Jakarta, the local Wende Temple cooperates with the city government to hold dragon boat races and a series of rich and varied celebrations every year on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. It has a history of more than 100 years.
In addition to the well-known dragon boat races and egg-setting at the Dragon Boat Festival, there are also some traditions that are rarely seen in other places. For example, there is a duck-catching competition, and hanging leaves at the door of the house to ward off evil spirits. Everyone finds these customs incredible. AndIndonesia is a country that embraces multiculturalism. People regardless of skin color or race can participate in it. Through festivals, friendly exchanges between various ethnic groups can be enhanced .
The Dragon Boat Festival celebration has been suspended for three years due to the epidemic, and finally resumed for the first time in 2023 for a five-day celebration (see the program schedule below for details), which is of special symbolic significance to local residents. The organizer stated that the revival of Chinese culture through the celebration of the Dragon Boat Festival will help different ethnic groups in the local area to jointly organize festival activities, and it will also help strengthen the cohesion among residents, so that residents can feel the care of the community in the festive atmosphere, thus Promote harmony and unity. The organizers look forward to promoting Tangerang's unique Dragon Boat Festival culture into a nationwide program in 2024, and then become one of the largest festivals in Indonesia.
In Kota Pontianak, West Kalimantan, the local Teochew and Hakka communities still have a very rare Dragon Boat Festival custom, which is the water-splashing party. At about noon, everyone, regardless of gender, age or age, gathered at the Kapuas River (Sungai Kapuas), prepared plastic bags filled with water, splashed water on each other and threw water polos, and began to bathe. The annual splashing party attracts more Young people and domestic and foreign tourists come to visit, adding vitality to the city. They also believe that at noon the river water turns into "fairy water", which can dispel bad luck and has the effect of healing and health, so it is no wonder that some people will store up the water of the Capuas River and take it home.
In addition to the above unique customs, eating rice dumplings is of course indispensable during the Dragon Boat Festival, and Indonesian rice dumplings also come in two flavors: sweet and salty: bakcang and kicang are the most popular. Indonesia is a country of thousands of islands, with a vast territory and different food cultures. The most representative ones are the coconut-flavored chicken rice dumplings from Bangka Island and the salted pork rice dumplings from Medan. Dumplings are much the same, they also use fat pork, salted egg yolk, mushrooms, and chestnuts as fillings, and then add Indian spices when stir-frying the ingredients. Of course, Indonesians who love spicy food don’t forget to add the original green chili to enjoy it. The sambal sauce tastes right; as for the lye rice dumplings, they are smaller and come in bunches. People generally think of lye rice dumpling as dipping it in white sugar, but Indonesian way of eating it is to dip it in Nanyang-style kaya sauce (selai srikaya).
Knowing that Indonesia also has a Dragon Boat Festival, and knowing its customs and unique culture, do you find it interesting? If you are traveling in Indonesia during the Dragon Boat Festival next time, you might as well join the Dragon Boat Festival water-splashing party and eat Indonesian-style zongzi. Maybe it will suit your appetite!
