The Hualien County Environmental Protection Bureau will be giving a green flavor to this year’s Dragon Boat Festival, a traditional activity held in May characterized by eating zongzi — a rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves — and colorful dragon boat races.
“Unlike traditional dragon boat competitions, our green competition will combine a cultural tradition with environmental awareness and creativity,” bureau Director-General Dai Wen-jian (戴文堅) told the Taipei Times.
The competition, sponsored by the Environmental Protection Administration and the Hualien County Government, is divided into two categories — Float and Command the Land, he said.
Both categories require contestants to build a dragon boat with environmentally friendly or recycled materials.
“While projects entering the Float a Boat category [open to all teams college-level or above] must be capable of holding at least one person over at least 50m, projects submitted to the Command the Land category [limited to students below college level] do not need to be able to float,” Dai said.
In addition, to allow more people to participate in the festivities, the bureau will host an egg painting competition for elementary school students, as well as a Green Creative Market Place, which will include a white elephant sale, a recycled-material garment fashion show and seminars on living an eco-friendly lifestyle, he said.
Several legends lie behind the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival. As the most popular one goes, the activity commemorates poet Qu Yuan (屈原), who served as a high governmental official for the ancient state of Chu (楚) in the Warring States Period in ancient China.
Legend has it that Qu, a talented poet and a loyal palatine to his lord, was exiled to the countryside on several occasions because his talents made him the subject of envy by other palatines.
At the time, Chu was the second-largest state after Qin (秦), which had a reputation for annexing other smaller states. To help Chu avoid a similar fate, Qu advised the lord of Chu to team up with the state of Qi (齊) to fight against the Qin.
But his advice was never heeded.
When Qu committed suicide in the Miluo River (汨羅江) on the day the lord of Chu was killed by Qin troops, local fishermen raced to the scene to retrieve his body, beating drums to scare off fish that would try to eat his body and dumping rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves to distract them.
Registrations are open until May 20 at www.hlepb.gov.tw.
The winners will be announced on May 31.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese