BEIJING, June 10 (Xinhua) -- The Dragon Boat Festival, also known as the Duanwu Festival, traditionally falls on the fifth day of the fifth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, which was Monday this year.
The festival commemorates the famous Chinese poet Qu Yuan, who was also a minister of the State of Chu during the Warring States Period (475 BC-221 BC). Qu drowned himself in the Miluo River in despair after he was accused of treason and banished for offering well-intended advice to the king.
Legend has it that upon learning of Qu's death, locals took to boats on the river to search for his body, dropping rice dumplings called Zongzi, into the water to prevent him from being eaten by fish. This is why Chinese people hold dragon boat races and make Zongzi to eat during the festival.
