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How Chinese People Celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival
2020-06-23 By zhaozhao
Dragon Boat Festival 2020 falls on June 25 (Tursday). China will have 3 days of holiday from Thursday (June 25) to Saturday (June 27), and we will be back at work on Sunday , June 28.
Duanwu Festival(Dragon Boat Festival) is a folk festival celebrated for over 2,000 years, when Chinese people practice various customs thought to dispel disease, and invoke good health.
Now many of the customs are disappearing, or no longer observed. You are more likely to find them practiced in rural areas.
Zongzi (粽子zòngzi /dzong-dzuh/) is the most traditional Dragon Boat Festival food. It is related to Qu Yuan commemoration, as the legend says that lumps of rice were thrown into the river to stop fish eating his drowned body.
Zongzi is wrapped in triangle or rectangle shapes in bamboo or reed leaves, and tied with soaked stalks or colorful silky cords.
The flavors of zongzi are usually different from one region to another across China. Read more on Zongzi.
There is an old saying: 'Drinking realgar wine drives diseases and evils away!' Realgar wine is a Chinese alcoholic drink consisting of fermented cereals and powdered realgar.
In ancient times, people believed that realgar was an antidote for all poisons, and effective for killing insects and driving away evil spirits. So everyone would drink some realgar wine during Duanwu Festival.
They sew little bags with colorful silk cloth, fill the bags with perfumes or herbal medicines, and then string them with silk threads.
During Dragon Boat Festival perfume pouches are hung around kids' necks or tied to the front of a garment as an ornament. The perfume pouches are said to protect them from evil.
The Dragon Boat Festival is held at the start of summer, when diseases are more prevalent. Mugwort leaves are used medicinally in China.
On the fifth day of the fifth month, people usually clean their houses, courtyards, and hang mugwort and calamus on doors lintels to discourage diseases. It is also said hanging mugwort and calamus can bring good luck to the family.