In China, the Dragon Boat Festival is one of the most popular, traditional and important festivals. Falling on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month, it was also called “Duanwu”. “Duan” means “beginning”, “wu” means five. Therefore, “Duanwu” means “the first fifth day of the fifth lunar month”.

At the beginning of the War against Japan (1937-1945), the Chinese circle of literature and art agreed to establish the 5th day of the 5th lunar month as “the Poet’s Festival” for memorizing Qu Yuan—the Chinese patriotic poet. In 1953, the World Peace Council named Qu Yuan as one of the four outstanding cultural figures in the world. The folk song below depicts the customs of the Dragon Boat Festival.

The 5th day of the 5th lunar month is the Duanwu Festival;

Houses are full of fragrance with Ay Tsao (a herb) hung at the gate.
People eat Zongzi with some sugar on it,
And they are glad to see the dragon boats in the river.
Besides eating Zongzi and holding the Dragon Boat Race, people also involve themselves in activities like drinking realgar wine, carrying scented sachets, hanging calamus, wearing Ay Tsao and pasting portraits of Zhong Kui, etc.