Chinese Dragon Boat Festival 2013

In 2013, Dragon Boat Festival falls on June 12.

The fifth day of the fifth Chinese lunar month (usually falls on June) is the traditional Dragon boat Festival in China. This festival has lasting for more than 2,000 years. Because the area is wide and there are many nationalities in China, the tradition of Dragon Boat Festival are different from place to place. The main activities held on Dragon boat Festival are as follows: daughters come back to their home, hanging the portrait of Zhongkui(a man who is good at catching ghosts), welcoming the ghost boat, hanging up the calamus and Chinese mugwort, dragon boat racing, competition in martial skills, swinging, drinking realgar wine or calamus wine, eating the wudu pie, salted eggs, zongzi(pyramid-shaped mass of glutinous rice wrapped in leaves) and fresh vegetables. Some of the activities have been to abroad and developed well. For example, dragon boat racing has been an international game.

 

History of Dragon Boat Festival

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. » read more