邀请外国朋友参加端午节英语作文

An Invitation to the Dragon Boat Festival Dear Emma,

How are you? I'm writing to invite you to join my family for a very special celebration in China called the Dragon Boat Festival! It's one of my favorite holidays and I think you'll really enjoy it. The Dragon Boat Festival happens every year on the fifth day of the fifth month in the Chinese lunar calendar. This year it falls on June 22nd. It's a traditional festival that has been celebrated in China for over 2,000 years! There are many interesting customs and activities associated with this day.

The name \"Dragon Boat Festival\" comes from the main event – dragon boat racing! Dragon boats are these really long boats that kind of look like dragons. They are brightly painted and have a dragon head at the front. The boats have crews of paddlers, a drummer who beats a drum to keep the rhythm, and someone steering at the back.

On the festival day, there are dragon boat racing

competitions held on rivers and lakes all across China. The boats race against each other and it's so exciting to watch! The paddlers have to work together perfectly and paddle in sync with

the drumbeats. My favorite part is seeing the dragon head bobbing up and down as the boats cut through the water. It's such an energetic and lively event.

But dragon boat racing isn't the only fun thing about this festival. There are also lots of traditional foods that we eat. The most famous one is called zongzi, which is sticky rice wrapped up in bamboo or reed leaves. The leaves are weaved into pyramid or rectangle shapes to hold the sticky rice filling inside. The fillings can be different things like bean paste, meat, egg yolks, or just plain rice.

Making zongzi is a whole process! My grandma always gets me and my cousins to help her prepare them a few days before the festival. We spend hours soaking the leaves, mixing the fillings, wrapping and tying the zongzi up neatly with string. It's kind of tedious work but we have fun doing it together. And the end result is so delicious! Zongzi is a symbol of the festival and you can find it everywhere – in restaurants, at street stalls, and of course homemade.

Another great Dragon Boat Festival food is realgar wine. It's a special wine that people drink for good health and to ward off evil spirits and diseases. The wine gets its bright orange-red color from adding a tiny amount of realgar powder, which is

made from an orange mineral. Don't worry, it's completely safe to drink in small quantities! Realgar wine has a slightly spicy, herbal taste that I really like.

There are also many other customs and activities

surrounding the festival. For example, we hang up paintings of zongzi, drink realgar wine, eat other delicacies like rice dumplings and eggs stained with realgar powder. People also wear perfume pouches with herbs like mugwort and calamus, which are thought to keep bad luck away.

One really fun tradition is the willow leaf whistle game! We take fresh willow leaves and fold them up into whistles, then blow on them to see whose whistle makes the loudest sound. There are whistling contests and the winners get little prizes. I never win because my whistles are always so quiet, but it's still fun trying.

Another custom is hanging up icons of Qu Yuan, who was an ancient Chinese poet and minister. The Dragon Boat Festival actually started as a way to commemorate Qu Yuan's life after he drowned in protest against government corruption. People would take boats out onto the river every year on this day and throw rice dumplings into the water to keep the fish away from his body.

Over time, the festival evolved into the dragon boat racing competitions and other traditions we have today. But it's still a time to remember Qu Yuan's spirit of loyalty and honor. We might even read some of his famous poems during the celebrations.

I'm really excited to share this special festival with you! My family always has a big celebration and I know they would love for you to join. We can watch the dragon boat races, make zongzi together, play willow leaf whistles, and try all the delicious festival foods. It will be such a fun experience where you can learn about Chinese culture and traditions.

Please let me know if you can come! The Dragon Boat Festival only comes once a year and I wouldn't want you to miss out on this incredible event. I'll be waiting for your reply. Your friend, [Your Name]