A Chinese holiday is gaining worldwide popularity

　　一个逐渐受到全球欢迎的中国节日

　　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 th

e 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.

　　有些节日实在是很有趣，所以在本土文化以外的地方也很受欢迎。最明显的例子可能就是圣诞节，世界各地的人都会庆祝圣诞节，即使是非基督徒。同样，最近几年端午节已经不局限于中国，成为国际性节日，而庆祝的人可能对节日的由来并不太了解。

　　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.

　　端午节与春节和中秋节并列为中国三大节日。这三个节日中，它可能是最古老的一个，可以追溯到公元前227年的战国时代。这个节日是为了纪念楚国的大夫屈原，他因为对朝廷的贪污腐败感到绝望而投河自尽。镇上的人纷纷冲上船去救他，却没有成功。后来大家把米撒到水里，希望把饥饿的鱼群从他的躯体边引开。

　　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，屈原逝世的故事逐渐演变成赛龙舟和吃粽子(一种包在竹叶中的米食)的传统。这些竞赛显然激起了世界各地人们的想像，每年春天有将近60场龙舟赛在中国境外的城市举办，从温哥华到悉尼，从波兰的格但斯克到南非的开普敦。单单字加拿大就有将近50支龙舟队伍，德国则有近30个。

　　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，为什么端午节赛龙舟会吸引外国人呢？“这是一项不寻常的运动。”一位来自德国的参赛者说，“这并不是所有的人都在从事的运动。这正是龙舟队的团队精神如此高昂的原因之一，每个人都觉得自己在做一件很特别的事。”那么粽子呢？“喔，我觉得它不难吃。”他说，“那是一种需要后天培养的品味。我只是还没培养出来罢了。”