We are in the midst of the dragon season at the moment.  The full moon, which will be Sunday 27th September, heralds the mid-Autumn festival, when dragons prowl the streets and have to be placated with gifts, usually money, sweets of snacks.

Each dragon comprises about 10 boys age 8-12.  They wear satin trousers, fringed to resemble scales.  The head, is inhabited by a boy standing upright, while the rest of the dragon, a further four, are bent double holding his waist and covered by the sort of train attached to the head.  Two more operate the large drum which is absolutely essential to announce the approach and performance of a kind of dance, of the dragon, and a further couple of boys push the cart which holds the drum.  There is also one costumed fellow who wears a pig mask.   I do not know what his role is.

If the dragon visits your house, that is good luck, but he usually appears at family members homes and also prowls the hotels, where the pickings are quite good from tourists.   As we have about 300 hotels and guest houses in Hoi An, there is no way even mutliple dragons can cover them all on one night, so they have been roving around for about 10 days now.   The gifts have to be put into the mouth of the dragon, and if you meet one in the street, it is wise to offer him a small donation.  Lots of small change needed this week.

They can be any colour, but red is most auspicious.  I have seen one of those, fringed in gold, plus a teenage one (bigger boys) in orange, several in yellow with red fringes, green and gold and blue and gold.  The drumming begins as soon as school kicks out and goes on until about 9pm.  Next week, the silence will sound loud!