A Chinese holiday is gaining worldwide popularity 一個逐漸受到全球歡迎的中國節日

　　Some holidays are so much fun that they catch on outside of their culture. The most obvious example is probably Christmas, which is celebrated around the world by people who aren’t even Christian. Similarly, in recent years, the Dragon Boat Festival has moved beyond China to become an international holiday celebrated by people who may know little about the holiday’s origins.

　　 有些節日實在是很有趣，所以在本土文化以外的地方也很受歡迎。最明顯的例子可能就是圣誕節，世界各地的人都會慶祝圣誕節，即使是非基督徒。同樣，最近幾年端午節已經不局限于中國，成為國際性節日，而慶祝的人可能對節日的由來并不太了解。

　　 The Dragon Boat Festival is one of three major Chinese holidays, along with the Spring and Moon Festivals. Of the three, it is possibly the oldest, dating back to the Warring States Period in 227 B.C. The festival commemorates Qu Yuan, a minister in the service of the Chu Emperor. Despairing over corruption at court, Qu threw himself into a river. Townspeople jumped into their boats and tried in vain to save him. Then, hoping to distract hungry fish from his body, the people scattered rice on the water.

　　 端午節與春節和中秋節并列為中國三大節日。這三個節日中，它可能是最古老的一個，可以追溯到公元前227年的戰國時代。這個節日是為了紀念楚國的大夫屈原，他因為對朝廷的貪污腐敗感到絕望而投河自盡。鎮上的人紛紛沖上船去救他，卻沒有成功。后來大家把米撒到水里，希望把饑餓的魚群從他的軀體邊引開。    

　　Over the years, the story of Qu’s demise transformed into the traditions of racing dragon boats and eating zongzi – a kind of rice wrapped in bamboo leaves. The races have certainly captured the imagination of people from all over the world. Every spring there are nearly 60 dragon boat races held outside of China in cities from Vancouver to Sydney, from Gdańsk, Poland to Cape Town, South Africa. Canada alone has nearly 50 dragon boat teams and Germany has nearly 30.

　　多年以后，屈原逝世的故事逐漸演變成賽龍舟和吃粽子(一種包在竹葉中的米食)的傳統。這些競賽顯然激起了世界各地人們的想像，每年春天有將近60場龍舟賽在中國境外的城市舉辦，從溫哥華到悉尼，從波蘭的格但斯克到南非的開普敦。單單字加拿大就有將近50支龍舟隊伍，德國則有近30個。

　　So what is it about the Dragon Boat Festival that appeals to foreigners? “It’s an unusual sport,” says one racer from Germany. “It’s not like everybody’s doing it. That’s one of the reasons that there’s such great team spirit in a dragon boat team – everybody feels like we’re doing something special.” And what about the zongzi? “Ehhh, they’re not bad, I guess,” he says. “Something of an acquired taste. I just haven’t really acquired it yet.”

　　那么，為什么端午節賽龍舟會吸引外國人呢？“這是一項不尋常的運動。”一位來自德國的參賽者說，“這并不是所有的人都在從事的運動。這正是龍舟隊的團隊精神如此高昂的原因之一，每個人都覺得自己在做一件很特別的事。”那么粽子呢？“喔，我覺得它不難吃。”他說，“那是一種需要后天培養的品味。我只是還沒培養出來罷了。”

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