FUZHOU -- Three people are missing after a boat capsized during a dragon boat racing Thursday afternoon in East China's Fujian province, rescuers said.

The boat with 36 people capsized in the Minjiang River of Yuankou village, Minhou county at about 4:30 p.m. when the race was staged to mark the traditional Dragon Boat Festival.

Thirty-three were rescued, while more than 160 people and eight ships were engaged in the search.

Dragon Boat Festival falls on the fifth day of the fifth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, which commemorates the death of poet Qu Yuan during the Warring States period between 475 and 221 BC.

Disappointed with the government and emperor he served, Qu drowned himself in the Miluo River of central China's Hunan province. Local people who learned of his death raced in boats to find his body. The tradition passed down to this day.