Dragon Boat Festival flourishes

Updated: 2016-06-09 07:43

(China Daily)

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2000-year-old tradition celebrated nationwide in various forms

Dragon Boat Festival, which comes on May 5 on the lunar calendar - June 9 this year on the Western calendar - is a traditional festival in China to commemorate the ancient poet Qu Yuan, who committed suicide out of love for his country. Traditionally, people eat Chinese rice pudding and hold dragon boat races in the poet's honor. In September 2009, UNESCO added Dragon Boat Festival to the Intangible Cultural Heritage list, the first Chinese festival to receive the honor. As time passed, Dragon Boat Festival has been celebrated with many various activities in different provinces, yet most of them include traditional Chinese rice puddings and dragon boat races. Over the decades, it has even spread to neighboring Asian countries - dragon boat racing has already become an international sport.

Dragon Boat Festival flourishes

A character, to protect the child from harm, is drawn with realgar on a boy's forehead in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province. Zhang Lang / For China Daily

Dragon Boat Festival flourishes

A resident of Shizuishan, in northwest China’s Ningxia Hui autonomous region, makes traditional Chinese rice pudding. Peng Zhaozhi / Xinhua

Dragon Boat Festival flourishes

A traditional ceremony in honor of Qu Yuan is performed in Nantong, in East China’s Jiangsu province, . Xu Peiqin / For China Daily

Dragon Boat Festival flourishes

A team strains with the paddles in a dragon boat race in the Longgang River, Shenzhen, in South China's Guangdong province. Wu Jun / For China Daily

Dragon Boat Festival flourishes

Children bathe in tubs of water with ai, an herb, in Zigui, a county in central Hubei province, the hometown of Qu Yuan. It is believed that ai will help them avoid bad luck. Zheng Jiayu / Xinhua

Dragon Boat Festival flourishes

A crew competes in a land-lovers' dragon boat race in Zigui, in Central China's Hubei province. Dan Hang / Xinhua

(China Daily 06/09/2016 page7)

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