This festival is held on the second day of the second lunar month, when the dragon which controls rain is believed to raise his head. From this day, the rainfall will steadily increase, so this day is named after the dragon.
Families in northern China take lanterns and visit rivers or wells to fetch water before returning home, turning on the light and offering sacrifices as incense smoke fills the air.
Everyone eats noodles, symbolic of lifting the dragon’s head; cakes are fried, symbolising eating the gallbladder of the dragon; and corn is popped so the dragon god can go back to heaven and distribute the rain.
In the Tang dynasty, Yuhuang Dadi was irritated by the new queen, Wu Zetian, and ordered four dragon gods to withhold the rain for three years. The dragon responsible for the rivers in heaven did not wish to see the people on earth die from lack of rain. He broke the rule and it rained just once. Yuhuang Dadi punished the dragon god by imprisoning him under a mountain. The dragon god could only be released once golden beans blossomed so the people looked everywhere for the golden beans. The following year, on the second day of the second month, the people were tending their corn and thought it was the same as golden beans when it popped. So the corn was popped and the dragon god saw this, crying out that the beans had blossomed, and Yuhuang Dadi set him free. Since then, people have been popping corn on the same day each year, wishing for rain and a good harvest.
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