Ｄｒａｇｏｎ Ｂｏａｔ Ｆｅｓｔｉｖａｌ

After Lunar New Year, the Dragon Boat Festival (端午節 May 5, Lunar calendar) is the next big festival in Taiwan. Due to the transition into Summer, diseases and sicknesses are quite prone around this time, so traditionally the Festival has signified a day to rid the body and living environment of evil influences and impurities. Adults would drink a sort of yellow rice wine (雄 黃 酒 ), while children would have the character 'king' (王) drawn onto their foreheads. Both are supposed to prevent bad omens from contaminating the body. Further, children would wear red pouches stuffed with scented herbs (香 包), often in the shape of tigers and dragons (now increasingly in the shape of cartoon characters like Doraemon or Pikachu), to ward off bad spirits. Outside of houses, a bunch of bayan twigs and leaves as well as a mix of fresh herbs (榕 枝 與 艾 草 ) are hung outside of doors, also supposed to have the effect of warding off bad omens and diseases. Some even grind the leaves and herbs and boil them to take baths in. Many households (like I did) would set fruits and dishes on a table, pray to the deities and gods, and burn paper money to welcome new, healthy times.

Legend has it, during the Waring Dynasty, the patriotic poet Qu Yuan (屈 原) committed suicide by jumping into a river when the Chu Emperor dismissed Qu's better judgement government. Local people quickly wrapped rice balls in lotus leaves and dumped them into the river, so as to prevent the fish eating the corpse of the beloved poet. Till this day, wrapped-rice dumplings (粽 子) is still eatento celebrate the festival.

The event is also marked by dragon boat rowing competitions on major rivers, capture the joyous and lively mood of people to enter a new and energetic season. The boats are carved out of whole tree trunks, moulded and shaped into a dragon, colourfully hand-painted, with a detailed head and tail. The eyes of the dragon are deliberately left white. On May 1 of the Lunar calendar, the village chief would perform an elaborate 'eye-dotting ceremony' (「 開 光 」 儀 式literally 'Opening the light' ), during which he would breath life into the dragon by granting it eyes. Wishes and blessings are made to pray for prosperity and peace for the coming year. Fireworks are set off and gongs are sounded as the dragons are pushed into the water.
(See http://www.gio.gov.tw/info/festival_c/dragon/dragon.htm for more details in Mandarin.)

All the above are not musts, but part of the local culture and spirit. When in Taipei, do as the Taiwanese do...