Chinese Dragon Boat Festival

Dragon Boat Festival or Duan Wu Jie, is one of the three most important lunar festivals in China, along with Spring Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival. The festival is celebrated to commemorate Qu Yuan, a famous scholar in ancient China. 
 
In 2022, it falls on Friday, June 3, 2022. Chinese people will have a 3-day public holiday from June 3 to 5.
 
Simple Interesting Facts on Dragon Boat Festival

• Dragon Boat Festival has been celebrated in China for over 2000 years and is believed to start at the same time as the Olympic Games.
• It is celebrated to commemorate Qu Yuan, a famous ancient Chinese scholar who drown himself in a river. 
• Special plants with strong flavors will hang on doors to ward off evil spirits. 
• Popular festival food: Zongzi

 
Four Most Popular Ways to Celebrate Dragon Boat Festival
The Dragon Boat Festival has a long history of more than 2,000 years. During this long period of time, various traditions have developed. 
1. Eating Zongzi
Eating zongzi has become an indispensable part of the Dragon Boat Festival celebration. In China, almost every household will eat Zongzi when the festival comes.
Zongzi is a glutinous rice dumpling wrapped in reed leaves, with various fillings. Depending on the location and region of China, the taste of Zongzi is different. Generally speaking, people in southern China prefer the salty one while those in northern China like the sweet one.
There is also a very interesting story for eating Zongzi. It is said that after Qu Yuan drowned himself in the river, fishermen tried hard to find his body but failed. Some locals threw rice rolls, eggs, and meat into the river hoping fish wouldn’t eat the body of Qu Yuan. Since then, Zongzi officially became the festival food and lasted until now.

2. Dragon Boat Racing

Dragon boat racing is one of the most important traditions at the Dragon Boat Festival. The activity is widely held in China's southern and southeastern areas where rivers and lakes are densely scattered.
The dragon boat is a human-powered watercraft that is shaped and decorated like a Chinese dragon. There are usually 18 to 20 people in a standard boat for races. During the races, members of the boat paddle harmoniously and hurriedly, accompanied by drum beats produced by the drummer.
The origin of the activity is dated back to 2000 years ago. Legends go when Qu Yuan drowned himself in the river, many fishermen rode their boats trying to find his body. Every year later locals would ride dragon boats commemorating Qu Yuan, hoping to disperse creatures under the river in this way.
3. Wearing Sachets
During Dragon Boat Festival, usually, kids would wear sachets (佩香囊) in the countryside areas. It is believed that doing so helps drive out the evil spirit and avoid illness. At the same time, people think that kids with sachets look more adorable.
Inside the sachets are some perfumes or herbal medicines like aromatic odor, angelica root, and the rhizome of chuanxiong. The shapes of sachets vary and they are strung together.
In some cities in southern China, some young people will also use sachets to express their affections for each other.
4. Hanging Calamus and Chinese Mugwort
Hanging calamus on doors at the festival is said to ward off disease. This plant is actually very good to keep insects away because of its strong flavor.