Chinese Dragon Boat Festival

Dragon Boat Festival or Duanwu Festival is a traditional festival and statutory holiday in China. Most Chinese will have one day off for celebrations. The Dragon Boat Festival takes place on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. In 2008, the festival falls on 8th June. The main celebrations of course include the dragon boat racing but eating Zongzi (A pyramid-shaped glutinous rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves) is also customary.

History

The custom of celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival dates back to the Spring and Autumn Periods over 2,000 years ago. The festival is held to commemorate Quyuan, an ancient scholar and hero. Quyuan was a high official of the Chu State who committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River (in today's Hunan province in central China) after knowing the Chu Army had been defeated in a vital battle.

The local people knowing Quyuan was a good man, felt very sorrowful about his death. They went out in their boats to rescue him or at least to try to find his body.

Another legend goes that after Quyuan's death, People of the Chu State, loved him so much that they threw food into the river so that the fish would eat the rice rather than the body of their beloved. People in some parts of China still throw Zongzi into the river.

Celebrations

- Dragon Boat Racing

Dragon boat racing is one indispensable part of the festival's celebration. Dragon boat racing is held at that day each year in many cities in southern China. Dragon Boat Racing is particularly popular in regions of the southern Yangtze River such as Zhejiang and Jiangsu Provinces where the race takes place almost every year.  This year, a large scale boat racing will be held in the famous tourist city of Guilin on June 15th, which will make a grand feast for spectators. Visitors who visit Guilin during this period can enjoy the grand spectacle.

- Eating Zongzi

Zongzi is a pyramid-shaped glutinous rice dumpling wrapped in reed or bamboo leaves. Celebration of the Dragon Boat Festival will not be complete without a taste of Zongzi. Many different fillings can be used for Zongzi and include the jujube zongzi, ham zongzi, bean paste zongzi and pork zongzi. The most famous Zongzi is from Jiaxing in Zhejiang Province. In the past, Chinese families made Zongzi on their own at home but nowadays, except for remote rural countryside, people buy ready Zongzi from supermarkets or shops.

- Hanging Calamus and Chinese Mugwort

People hang the cuttings of the plants Calamus and Chinese Mugwort on their front doors to keep out evil spirit in another tradition.