DON’T MISS

6.23

dragon Boat FeStIVal

Ranking among China’s most ancient cultural traditions， the Dragon Boat Festival (端午節Du`nw^ji9) has mysterious origins， ranging from dragon worship to drowned shamans. Most widely known is the story of Qu Yuan (屈原)， a poet and advisor to a king during the Warring States Period. When his kingdom was overrun by invaders， the statesman-turned-poet drowned himself in the Miluo River (汨羅江)， and adoring locals futilely tried recovering Qu Yuan’s remains. Undeterred， they tossed rice covered in bamboo leaves into the waves to feed the fish that would otherwise have feasted on the courtier’s corpse. This legend spawned two of the Dragon Boat Festival’s signature activities: the preparation of zongzi (粽子)， a sticky rice snack wrapped in bamboo leaves， and dragon boat races， where 10 to 50 rowers paddle canoe-like crafts down China’s rivers in pursuit of glory. From the gong it’s a 500-meter mad dash to get a boat’s decorative dragonhead across the finish line first. Though international championships are only held every two years， eager spectators annually gather in villages across China to watch the action on their local waterways.– matt Sheehan (馬特)

7.15-18

jIayuguan paSS InternatIonal glIdIng FeStIVal

If scaling up the thousands of steps that seem to flank every popular tourist attraction in China doesn’t give you a satisfactory high， you may want to head over to Gansu Province this summer and strap on a set of wings. Come July， pilots will be gearing up for the Jiayuguan Pass International Gliding Festival， which offers hang gliders the chance to experience a birds-eye view of the Gobi Desert in the north and the snowcapped Qilian Mountains to the south. Participants can receive flight training， enter hang gliding contests and watch acrobatic aviation performances， all near a section of the Great Wall constructed during the Ming Dynasty(1368-1644) known as an important military base and a Silk Road gateway to the West. Once airborne， the participants may want to keep their head in the clouds and avoid thinking about the experiences of those who piloted the earliest hang gliders. These unfortunate souls were strapped into a device known as the “man-lifting kite” and hurled off cliffs by Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770 B.C. – 256 B.C.) emperors who wanted to spice up their execution procedures.– jeSSIca rapp (阮潔茜)

6.12-20

ShanghaI InternatIonal FIlm FeStIVal

Shanghai film buffs get your wallets ready—movie fanatics have been known to line up in the pouring rain for tickets to the annual Shanghai International Film Festival(SIFF)， now in its 15th year. Organized by the local government and participating state cultural administrations， SIFF is a week-long internationally accredited competitive festival that draws featurelength entries from both China and abroad. Though the festival—one of Asia’s biggest—frequently includes indie films， it’s more of a red carpet event， aimed at attracting stars (last year， it featured Matt Damon and Susan Sarandon) as well as industry bigwigs. As with the Oscars， honors are given out for best actor， best director and so on， awarded by a jury of film veterans. Commercial gloss aside， SIFF is a fun and， with tickets ranging from RMB40-60 a pop， relatively affordable way to get your dose of movie magic. – lIz tung (董怡)

6.23

ShangrI-la horSe racIng FeStIVal

Saddle up this summer and get rolling to Zhongdian County (中甸縣) in Yunnan Province， better known as Shangri-La， for the town’s annual horse racing festival. The three-day event is a celebration of master horsemanship and attracts contestants from minority groups all over southwest China， including Tibetans， Naxi and Yi. Riders usually bring their families and friends along with them， so the event is a great place to spot locals in ethnic dress. Horses and riders， both of whom are decked out in rainbow liveries， then spend the best part of each day blazing across the track in supercharged whirls of color. The contests range from death-defying equestrian acrobatics that challenge riders to swoop down and pluck as many silk ribbons as possible from the surface of the track， to more conventional individual and team races， as well as displays featuring yaks and oxen. Most events are now held in a modern horse racing stadium， but some are also performed on grasslands on the outskirts of the town. Either way， the crowds usually migrate from the races back to the town center at the end of the day to dance， drink and sing.

- daVId green (武劍)