The Dragon Boat Festival is sometimes referred to as the "Double Fifth Festival" because it occurs on the fifth day of the fifth month in the Chinese lunar calendar -- around mid-summer. On this day the sun shines directly overhead at noon; one may stand on one's own shadow. Like the other festivals, there is a legend associated with its origin and a special dumpling and other foods are eaten.
The story tells of Qu Yuan, a famous Chinese scholar-statesman who served the King of Chu during the Warring States period. A patriotic poet, he threw himself into the Miluo River when he saw his state annexed by the Qin State.
When the people learned about this, they jumped into their boats and rushed out to search for his body. When they couldn't find his body, they made many zongzi (a kind of dumpling) and threw them into the river so that the creatures in the river would not touch him. This became a traditional food for this day to remember the poet. Since then, people started to commemorate Qu Yuan through dragon boat races, eating zongzi and other activities, on the anniversary of his death, the fifth of the fifth month.
The way of celebrating can be very different from region to region. In Northeast China, rural people hang artemisia along the eaves of their houses and boil and eat a lot of eggs, while in Southern China where there are rivers and lakes, dragon boat races are held and zongzi is eaten. Teams of dragon boats, similar to long canoes, train for weeks for the contests that mark this festival, in countries with large Chinese populations.
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