Dragon Boat Festival
During the Dragon Boat Festival, from the first to the sixth day of the fifth lunar month, the villages along the banks of the Hejiang River in Pumen, Xindu and Renyi towns hold dragon boat races. The dragon boat is 10 meters long and narrow like a shuttle. Drums are played at the bow and gongs are played at the stern. Flags of different colors are inserted in the middle and oars are rowed on both sides. There are more than 40 rowers, and the drummers beat the drums to coordinate the rowing rhythm. The piers and ferry crossings of the villages along the coast are all made of banyan tree branches, with horizontal scrolls and couplets posted on them. A shrine for the Dragon King of the East China Sea is set up in the village. On the first day of May, the dragon boat teams from the villages in the three towns started to swim upstream from Fulongyu, the southernmost part of Pumen Town. When they arrived at the piers and ferry crossings of each village, they would row several circles on the river to pay tribute to the elders and villagers of the village. The villagers on the shore beat gongs and drums to welcome the dragon boat team members into the village and set up a banquet for them. The banquet was set up by the villagers. One family set up two or three tables, while the poorer families set up one table per family or several families set up one table together. In addition to meat dishes, the banquet had two large bowls of wine and four bowls of glutinous rice cakes. It took four days to repeatedly land in this way to travel through the villages on both sides of the river in the three towns of Pumen, Renyi and Xindu. They rested on the fifth day of the first lunar month. On the sixth day of May, the dragon boats traveled dozens of miles on the river. It was inconvenient for the rowers to go back and forth to stay at home, so the two villages formed "dragon boat relatives" with each other, and the rowers could eat and stay nearby. The two villages that form a "Dragon Boat Family" are like brothers. When the dragon boat brothers come to the village as guests, the people of the main village will welcome them with an eight-music band, let them stay overnight, and treat them to two meals. The next day, when they leave the village and board the boat, the main village will send them off with eight-music music. On the sixth day, a dragon boat race will be held. The dragon boat brothers will select the best rowers from each of them and gather them in one boat to compete for the first place with the strongest strength. If one of the two parties in the "Dragon Boat Family" encounters a disaster, the other party will generously help with money, food or other supplies. It can be said that they are in the same boat and share weal and woe. (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)