Happy Dragon Boat Festival!
The Dragon Boat Festival, also known as Duanwu Festival (端午节), is a traditional Chinese holiday celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, usually falling in May or June of the Gregorian calendar. It is a time-honored festival with over 2,000 years of history, rich in cultural meaning and festive customs.
The most widely accepted origin of the festival commemorates Qu Yuan (屈原), a patriotic poet and statesman of the ancient state of Chu during the Warring States period. After being exiled due to political intrigue and witnessing the decline of his country, Qu Yuan drowned himself in the Miluo River. In memory of him, people raced out in boats to try to rescue him or recover his body, and they threw zongzi (粽子)—sticky rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves—into the river to feed the fish and keep them from consuming his body.
The festival is best known for two major traditions:
Dragon Boat Racing – Colorful, narrow boats shaped like dragons race in rivers and lakes, often accompanied by the beating of drums. It's a vibrant and competitive event symbolizing teamwork and cultural pride.
Eating Zongzi – These glutinous rice dumplings are filled with various ingredients like meats, beans, or egg yolk, and steamed or boiled in bamboo or reed leaves.
In addition to honoring Qu Yuan, the festival also reflects ancient Chinese practices of warding off evil spirits and disease, as it occurs during a hot, pestilence-prone time of year. People wear sachets of herbs, hang mugwort and calamus, and drink realgar wine as traditional protective rituals.
The Dragon Boat Festival was designated as a public holiday in China in 2008 and was also inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009.