culture
Dragon Boat Festival: Zongzi Wars and Racing Boats
Dragon Boat Festival (June 19 this year) brings dragon boat races, the famous noon egg-balancing challenge, and Taiwan's fiercest food debate: northern zongzi versus southern zongzi. Families argue passionately over whether sticky rice dumplings should be steamed or boiled, and every Taiwanese has a side. A holiday full of legends, rivalry, and rice dumplings.
Lesson preview
Warm-up: Your Dragon Boat Memories
5 MIN- What is your favorite part of the Dragon Boat Festival?
- Have you ever tried to balance an egg at noon? Did it work?
- Do you prefer your festive foods to be savory (salty) or sweet?
The Great Zongzi Battle and River Races
10 MINEvery June, Taiwan celebrates the Dragon Boat Festival. While athletes paddle furiously in colorful dragon boats on local rivers, families across the island engage in a different kind of competition: the 'Zongzi War'.
This friendly food debate divides Taiwan into two teams: North and South. Northern zongzi are made with pre-fried sticky rice, which is then wrapped in dry bamboo leaves and steamed. The grains of rice remain separate and chewy. People often joke that Northern zongzi is just 'wrapped oil rice' (油飯).
In contrast, Southern zongzi are made with raw sticky rice wrapped in fresh green leaves and boiled in water. This makes the texture much softer, stickier, and more cohesive. Southern zongzi are usually served with sweet soy paste and peanut powder.
Apart from eating, Taiwanese people also balance eggs at exactly 12:00 PM for good luck, and hang mugwort on their doors to keep away bad spirits and summer pests.
Essential Festival Vocabulary
5 MIN- 北部粽 → Northern-style zongziSteamed rice dumpling made with pre-fried rice, giving it a chewy texture.
- 南部粽 → Southern-style zongziBoiled rice dumpling made with raw rice, resulting in a soft and sticky texture.
- 立蛋 → egg-balancingA traditional activity of trying to stand an egg upright on its end at noon.
- 艾草 → mugwortA fragrant herb hung on front doors to ward off evil spirits and insects.
Sharing Traditions with Foreigners
7 MIN- How would you explain the difference between Northern and Southern zongzi to a foreigner who has never eaten sticky rice?
- In Taiwan, some people put sweet chili sauce (甜辣醬) on their zongzi. What is your favorite sauce or topping?
- Is the Dragon Boat Festival still popular among young people in Taiwan, or is it mostly for older generations? Why?
Bring this topic to your English class
Pick your level and get a 50-minute interactive lesson: reading, vocabulary, discussion, role-play, grammar points, each section timed.
You've got the lesson. Now you just need a teacher
See my notes from 20+ English class platforms →Pick the English-learning service that fits you best. Find the right teacher, read the lesson together, and you lead the class. I've taken classes with every one and researched them in depth, and each write-up has an exclusive discount code.
TutorABC adults / TutorJR kids
Classes around the clock · 90%+ Western teachers
WUWOW adults
25 minutes per class · free cancel up to 15 minutes before
OiKID
Aligned with the 108 curriculum · preview a trial-teaching recording
Soeasy English / Spanish
English, Japanese, Spanish, Korean, French, German · professional online materials