Picking the Greens and Drinking Dragon
Before the parade, participants rowed the Dragon Boats to the abandoned plot of land behind the Yeung Hau Temple. They patted the chopped grass on the Dragons’ head and put it in their mouth to give liveliness to the Dragon Boats. Then they rowed them back to the “Dragon Base” (the temporary shed for gods), where they tied the pomelo leaves on the Dragon’s head and sticked runes on its body. Then began the “Drinking Dragon” ceremony, in which people “cleaned the filth” with paper gold or silver ingots and pomelo leave water, and then a few drops of rooster blood mixed with Chinese white wine was sprinkled on the Dragon Boat, symbolizing the vigorous spirit. — in Tai O, Hong Kong.