The Dragon Boat Festival

It's unfortunate that the only "visual-media presentation" of the Dragon Boat Festival in China (which commemorates an unsuccessful attempt to rescue a 4th century B.C. poet from suicide by drowning) is this home video quality effort made during the 1989 festival in the village of Heyang. The program records snippets of activities preceding the boat race--villagers making decorations, ritually bathing the children, eating special foods to celebrate the onset of summer, etc. In the ensuing boat race (of which the viewer only sees brief clips), the only drama of the program is provided when the 3rd-place winners throw their prize wreath into the river in anger (an action which bears marked similarity to that of an overexcited three-year-old in Toys 'R Us). The program concludes with a religious procession of the gods (villagers dressed in elaborate and striking costumes). Due to the washed-out video and often tinny audio, the entertainment value of this program is pretty slight. Academics might consider for its historical/cultural value, but this is of little use to general audiences. Not a necessary purchase. (Available from: University of Washington Press, P.O. Box 50096, Seattle, WA 98145-5096; (206) 543-4050.)