Events

American Chinese Museum Celebrates “Duanwu” Dragon Boat Festival with Community

On June 5th, the American Chinese Museum in Philadelphia celebrated “Duan Wu Festival”, which is well known as Dragon Boat Festival, with the local community. Many Chinese artists and Chinese cultural ambassadors performed during the events and interacted with the visitors.

Matt Zhang, president of the East West Institute, and his two students, together performed four different styles of Chinese Kung Fu and three different styles of Chinese Tai Chi, which attracted most visitors’ attention and received rounds of applause.

Sisters Dance Company, CoCo Dance Company, Fortune Dance Company, and Xiesheng South Philadelphia Dance Company, dressed in special costumes, presented more than 10 traditional Chinese dances for the celebration, including waist drum dance, Chinese hat dance, umbrella dance and fan dance.

A dozen of Chinese folk music artists from Philly Breeze Band of the greater Philadelphia area also brought their traditional Chinese music instruments and performed wonderful Chinese folk music to the multi-ethnic residents.

During the event, a number of special booths were set up at the venue, including a demo on how to make Zong Zi, the traditional Chinese snack that people eat during “Duan Wu” Festival; free Zong Zi distribution, Chinese painting demo, Chinese calligraphy demo, mini dragon boats display, and tasting of different Chinese teas.

Jason Lam, founder of the museum said that the impression of the Dragon Boat Festival on the mainstream society is often the Dragon Boat Racing, very few people know “Duanwu”. The museum wants to take this opportunity to better introduce the festival’s cultural significance and connect the public with the unique Chinese culture.

Li Edwards, executive director of the museum, thanks the support of all the Chinese American artists from the Greater Philadelphia area, who are helping to fulfill the mission of the museum. She also thanks the support from many Chinese community organizations and support from City of Philadelphia and other corporate sponsors.

Pearl Huang, president of the Northeast Philadelphia Chinese Association, said her association has mobilized more than 40 student volunteers for the event. The significance of encouraging student volunteers to participate in the event includes learning Chinese culture, improving social skills, and enhancing social service awareness. The students helped the whole event layout, set up venues, service booths, etc., which greatly contributed to the success of the event.

Pennsylvania State Senator Christine Tartaglione, State Representative Joseph Hohenstein, State Representative candidate Anthony Bellmon and other politicians also attended the event.

Senator Christine Tartaglione said during the event that she will help the museum obtain a $50,000 state grant to further the museum’s mission to document the history of Chinese Americans immigrants and promote mutual understanding and integration of multi-ethnic cultures.

Around 500 people of different ethnic groups attended the celebration and toured the museum.