Dragon Boat Festival

Dragon Boat Festival, also known as Duanwu Festival, is a traditional and important celebration in China. Dragon Boat Festival 2016 falls on

June 9 (Thursday). China will have 3 days of holiday from Thursday (June 9) to Saturday (June 11), and we will be back at work on

Sunday, June 12.

• Chinese: 端午节 Duānwǔ Jié /dwann-woo jyeah/ 'start [of the] fifth traditional solar month [June 6 to July 6]

• Date: month 5 day 5 of the Chinese lunar calendar

• History: over 2,000 years

• Celebrations: dragon boat racing, health-related customs, honoring Qu Yuan and others

• Popular festival food: sticky rice dumplings (zongzi)

Duanwu 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.
During the festival, many activities and customs are practiced by people in China and even in nearby countries. Some of the most traditional ones

include dragon boat racing, eating sticky rice dumplings (zongzi), hanging Chinese mugwort and calumus, drinking realgar wine, and wearing perfume

pouches.

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.

They are a kind of sticky rice dumpling made of glutinous rice filled with meats, beans, and other fillings, 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.

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.

Before Dragon Boat Festival arrives, parents usually prepare perfume pouches for their children. 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 leavesare used

medicinally in China. Their fragrance is very pleasant, deterring flies and mosquitoes. Calamus anaquatic plant that has

similar effects.

On the fifth day of the fifth month, people usually clean their houses, courtyards, and hang mugwort andcalamus on

doors lintels to discourage diseases. It is also said hanging mugwort and calamus can bring good luck to the family.

Dragon Boat Festival is coming, Longse wish everything goes well with your business and have a cheerful time with your families.
Longse will close from Jun. 9th - Jun.11th，we will be back on Jun. 12th.

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