Dumplings and Dragons
 Delicious savoury or sweet dumplings wrapped
in bamboo leaves mark the celebration of the "jung cheet" festival.
Celebrated on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month every year, the
dumpling festival, or "jung cheet" in Cantonese, is heralded
by grand dragon boat races in Penang and with the wrapping and cooking
of rice dumplings, or "jung".
The dumpling festival commemorates Qu-Yuan, one of China’s
greatest poets and patriots, who protested against a corrupt government.
Wrongfully dismissed, he protested against the injustice and drowned
himself in a river, They sought to recover his body from the river
he drowned in, but it was never found.
So that his body wouldn’t be eaten by fish, the people then
threw dumplings made of rice into the water for fish to eat instead
of his remains and boats raced throughout the expanse of the river
to find him. Through the ages, the celebration has evolved to become
two rather distinct, albeit related festivals, namely the Dragon
Boat festival where teams of rowers led by a drummer race a dragon-headed
boat to reach the finish line, and the Dumpling festival. The Dragon
Boat festival is normally held from the 15th to 16th of June in
Penang. The dumpling festival usually lasts throughout the month.
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