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The eighth day of the fourth moon sees a confluence of three major cultural dates in the Chinese calendar, and Macau celebrates with gusto, writes Yaki Wo

Few activities are more enjoyable than savouring a culture that is at once both exotic yet familiar, and enjoying a few refreshing beverages at the same time. And it seems to apply to dragons as well as humans, for May 12 is the day when it is said that fervent drunken dragons roam Macau. Certainly some serious revelry goes on at this time of the year.

These small dragons are in reality made of wood and are carried by revelers from fishermen associations, who perform drunken dances in the Kuan Tai Temple near Sao Domingos Market and move on to the Inner Harbour to visit shops and piers on the waterfront.

Along the way, they drink and sling rice wine in the air, thrilling and startling bystanders, while giving photographers some interesting shots of intrinsic Macau enjoying itself instead of laying on fun for foreigners. The organizers also distribute “long-life rice”, which, according to local belief, blesses those who consume it with long-life, wealth and fertility. The tradition dates from the Qing dynasty (of China’s final empire), in Guangdong Province’s Zhongshan. And it’s quite a story.

As Southern Chinese folklore tells it, villagers were carrying the Buddha’s statue and praying for divine intervention against a plague when a python abruptly leapt out of a river. A monk reacted by slashing the python into three and tossing the snake parts into the river. When the dismembered serpent miraculously flew up heavenwards, the plague abated, and the land became fertile again.

This episode led to the belief that the people’s saviour was in fact a sacred dragon, and because the event took place auspiciously on Buddha’s birthday, the locals celebrated with extra gusto. The drunken dragon dance, which arose from this legend, has been listed by the Guangdong provincial government as a nonmaterial cultural heritage since 2006.

The Lord Buddha’s birthday is also known as “the feast of the bathing of the Lord Buddha”. On this day, worshippers purify images and statues of the Buddha across Macau by sprinkling water on them. The Macau Buddhist Association also organizes a prayer ceremony, which is followed by a variety of live performances including Shaolin Kung Fu, classical Indian dance and recitals of Buddhist music.

In an extraordinary historical coincidence, this also happens to be the birthday of Tam Kong, the child god of the Yuen dynasty, who was is believed to have been able to control the weather and heal the sick.

It is said that he has acquired the path to eternal youth, and was said to he have retained the features of a child even in old age.

Like the drunken dragon festivities, the worshipping of the deity Tam Kong is popular among Macau’s dwindling fishing community. To honour this aspect of one of Macau’s most extraordinary days, processions and lion dances will be enlivening the streets from May 11 to 15. And, as one would expect, firecrackers will be exploding near Coloane Village’s Tam Kong Temple – the sound of Chinese society having a raucously good time.

Yaki Wo

See listings for details.