The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. This year, it falls on June 3.
Back in September, 2009, the Dragon Boat Festival was included in UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List, making it the first traditional Chinese festival to receive the honor.
Dragon Boat Racing
The festival is meant to commemorate the death of Qu Yuan, a patriotic poet who drowned himself in the Miluo River during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC). Dragon boat racing, the most popular activity of the festival, was inspired by the villagers’ effort to rescue Qu and now it has become an international sport.
In Suzhou, the customs and traditions of the festival are linked to Wu Zixu, a general and strategist of the state of Wu in the Spring and Autumn period 722-481 BC). A statue of Wu Zixu still stands at Xumen Gate in the old town of Suzhou.
Eat Zongzi
You may already find that many Chinese festivals have connection with food and the festival we are celebrating today is no different. It’s customary to eat sticky rice dumplings, or more locally known as zongzi, during the festival.
Suzhou zongzi mostly comes in the shape of triangle, pillow, ingot, etc. Local people like eating zongzi with such stuffing as meat, red beans, or glutinous rice only served with sugar. You can also buy zongzi at local time-honored brand such as Huangtianyuan (黄天源) and Daoxiangcun (稻香村).
Eat Five Yellows
Apart from zongzi, Suzhou people also eat “Five Yellows”, namely yellow croaker, cucumber, yellow eel, salted duck egg and realgar wine. All the food either have huang (yellow, 黄in Chinese) in their Chinese names or look yellow.
According to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), yellow food is good for spleen. Since children are too young to drink wine, their parents usually spread realgar wine over their foreheads.
Wear Scented Sachets
During the festival, children also wear scented sachets that contain a variety of herbs, including wormwood, sandalwood, orchid, mint, clove, and cassia twig. It is believed to be effective in keeping mosquitos and other insects away.
