The Dragon Boat Festival is a typical traditional holiday in Chinese culture with a history of over two thousand years, usually celebrated through dragon boat races and eating sticky rice dumplings (zongzi). In order to allow more people to experience this traditional festival, the third meetup “Dragon Boat Festival Challenge”, organized by the Taiwan Center for Mandarin Learning in Ireland (TCML), sponsored by the Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC), was held on May 28.
Being the last meetup of this semester, the entire event revolved around the theme of the Dragon Boat Festival, attracting enthusiastic participation from numerous Mandarin learners and culture enthusiasts. The event featured both individual and team challenges. The individual challenges included three games，such as Egg Balancing, Origami Dragon Boat, and Zongzi Eating Competition. The team challenge was a Dragon Boat Festival-themed quiz. The lively event brought endless joy and excitement to the participants. Additionally, there were zongzi and various Taiwanese snacks available on-site for participants to taste and experience the atmosphere of the Dragon Boat Festival.
Evan Furlong, OCAC Adviser and Director of the TCML in Ireland, said “The Dragon Boat Festival and team sports share common elements, making it a modern celebration of teamwork. Both require collaboration and a competitive spirit, bringing communities together to foster unity and celebration. The festival's cultural heritage aligns with the cultural significance of team sports, emphasising the value of tradition and community in sportsmanship. Furthermore, the Dragon Boat Festival and team sports, like the Irish Dragon Boat Association and Taiwan Celts GAA, showcase how sports transcend borders, uniting people from different backgrounds through a shared passion for competition and physical fitness.”
The event kicked off with an Egg Balancing competition, which tested participants' sense of balance and reaction speed. Each person tried to place the traditional standing egg in a stable position, aiming to maintain its stability. The fastest person to accomplish this was declared the winner. The second challenge involved Origami Dragon Boat, where participants skilfully folded paper to create exquisite dragon boats. This round tested participants' dexterity, with the fastest and most beautiful folding winning the competition. The third challenge was a zongzi-eating competition, where participants raced to see who could finish eating the zongzi the fastest. Finally, the event concluded with a team-based quiz competition, testing participants' knowledge and awareness of Dragon Boat Festival and Chinese culture-related facts.
The event venue was filled with joyful laughter and a competitive atmosphere. Through these competitions, participants not only enjoyed the fun of the games and the ambiance of the Dragon Boat Festival but also learned and interacted with each other. The event provided them with a joyful and interesting learning environment, allowing every participant to learn and use Mandarin during the activities. Even after the event ended, everyone was reluctant to leave, as they still wanted to savour the experience.
