Dragon Boat Festival is around the corner!
As one of the traditional Chinese festivals, Dragon Boat Festival falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. In 2022, it’s on Jun.3.
The festival is to remember Qu Yuan, a well-known patriotic poet and politician in Chu State during the Warring States Period.
QU Yuan (343–278 BC) throwed himself into the Miluo River on the 5th day of the 5th Chinese lunar month, out of disappointment to the emperor who refused to reform.
To save him, people carried their dumplings and boats to the middle of the river. In order to keep fish and evil spirits away from his body, they beat drums and splashed the water with their paddles, and they also threw rice into the water both as a food offering to Qu Yuan's spirit and also to distract the fish away from his body.
Today in a daycare center on science island, children would tell you how to celebrate this festival.
It's necessity to have sticky rice dumplings (Zongzi) on this festival. They are made of glutinous rice with meats, beans, and other fillings. Usually they are wrapped in triangle or rectangle shapes. within bamboo or reed leaves. (image by ZHAO Weiwei)
Dragon boat races are held on this day. (image by ZHAO Weiwei)
Mugwort leaves, a kind of traditional Chinese medicine, are used to combat diseases. Their fragrance deters flies and mosquitoes. (image by ZHAO Weiwei)
When the festival arrives, perfume pouches are hung around kids' necks or tied to the front of a garment as an ornament. The little bags are made of colorful silk cloth, filled with herbal medicines to protect kids from disease or evil things.(image by ZHAO Weiwei)
Other activities were held, including paiting handmade kites. (image by ZHAO Weiwei)