Row, row, row your boat…

Row, row, row your boat
Fiercely in the sea…
If you see a dragon screams,
Don’t forget to swim.

Yea, you hear the song right. It’s my Dragon Boat Festival special remix with imaginary drum beats! So, it’s Dragon Boat Festival, or Tuen Ng Festival, again and as a family tradition, we headed to the beach and we picked Tai Pak Bay in Discovery Bay this year.

The weather was so fine! Flags with blessings written on were everywhere around the town.

As I later found out, the 21st Discovery Bay Dragon Boat Races & Carnival was, in fact, quite a big tournament with a total of 56 teams competing for various champions. Some were representing Discovery Bay residents and business corporations while others were from professional bodies. So you can imagine the excitements and big, big crowd….

The beach was jam-packed with teams of rowers and their families and friends.



Kid: OMG! Dragons are landing on the beach! Is it some sort of seaborne invasion?

I better run!....Oh, wait, it’s just another team’s turn to game!

Don't forget the ladies!

The first thing we did, after a brief wander around the beach, was settle down at a cozy spot on the beach, spread the giant picnic cloth and laid out our stash- Oolong tea and bamboo wrapped rice dumplings.

I had exactly 10 seconds to take the picture before
the dumplings were devoured in the speed of light!

Now that we had tamed our stomachs, we started to enjoy the jolly ambience of thunderous drum beats echoing the loud cheering and applause. The happy noise was so ear-splitting that, according to my Granny, it’s only a couple of gongs and cymbals away from the perfect showcase of a big celebration in Chinese culture.

When my family was busy chilling, sun-bathing, chit-chatting or PSP-ing (kids nowadays!), I took my time walking up and down the beach looking for photo opportunities. The scene of little kids playing in the water made me smile and also jealous as I was sweating like a pig in the heat (it’s 32’C, for god’s sake!)

Trust me! She is gonna be the next Beyonce!
She sang and danced in front of my camera for almost 2 minutes.

Ritual has it that the water dragons swim, live (and probably sweat) in is blessed. Such water can wash away bad luck and keep you healthy for years, making swimming an unmissable activity of the festival. And then, this hit me: We used to go swimming on Tuen Ng Festival, how come we don’t do this anymore?

“Are we abandoning the tradition or is it because of water pollution?” I asked my mom. And her reply? “Oh, we are just lazy.” It explained so many things! Anyways, here are some blessed kids.

Oh, they are building sand dune. How cute and classic.
“No! it’s a volcano. The water is lava!”

When I was young, I loved digging rivers that connect to the sea…
“No! These trenches are for war-use!”

“Nice hat, dude.”
“Yours too, bro.”

To take a break from the noisy beach, I took a stroll to the DB Plaza where more than 60 booths were set up. There were game stations, stalls selling home-made merchandises, food and clothes, and a centre stage for magic and acrobatic shows.

Here maybe less noisy than the beach, but was as crowded.

Kung Fu performances and Chi Kung tricks! The master hammered the long, thick nail through the wooden plank with nothing but his hand!

Just like every “Believe-it-or-not” show, you got to test if the board was real.

Look at the kids, they were totally intrigued!

Well, that’s about all that happened to my Tuen Ng Festival in Discovery Bay. Sorry to disappoint if you want to know who the boat-racing champions was because a.) I don’t know (and don’t care) and b.) I didn’t stay for the finals. Dragon boat races are not about winning anyway, but to be a part of the tradition, and most importantly, to have some fun!

Ahoy! Me hearty! To the great, grand ship! We are headin’ home!
Aye! Aye! Captain!

Transportation tips to Discovery Bay:

Buses from Tung Chung MTR station (DB01) and Sunny Bay MTR station (DB03)usually jam-packed in weekends and special occasions, you can do the shopping at Citygate Outlets first and join the special occasions next time; another way, you can take the ferries from Central (Pier 3).