Gregorian Date
June 25, 2001
Lunar Date
5/5
Day of Week
Monday
The Dragon Boat Festival (端午节) has been observed for over 2,000 years. It began as a mid-summer ritual to ward off disease, and later became closely tied to Qu Yuan, the Chu poet who drowned in the Miluo River in 278 BCE. Legend says villagers raced boats to find him and threw rice into the river so fish would not disturb his body—the origin story of today's zongzi.
The Dragon Boat Festival (端午节/端午節) commemorates the poet Qu Yuan, who drowned himself in the Miluo River as a protest against corruption. It falls on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month.
Key traditions include dragon boat racing, eating zongzi (sticky rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves), hanging calamus and mugwort, and wearing colorful silk threads.
Duan Wu Jie An Kang (Wishing you peace on Dragon Boat Festival)
Zongzi (sticky rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves), Realgar wine
Commemorates the poet Qu Yuan who drowned himself. Locals threw sticky rice into the river to stop fish from eating his body.
It is considered inappropriate to say 'Happy Dragon Boat Festival'; say 'Wishing you peace' instead.