Dragon Boat Festival's colorful customs

Editor's Note:

As the Dragon Boat Festival, also known as Duanwu, draws near, people start to commemorate the death of ancient Chinese poet Qu Yuan by eating zong zi (glutinous rice dumplings) and racing dragon boats among other colorful customs. The traditional festival is celebrated on the fifth of May in the lunar calendar. This year it falls on June 9. It could be traced back to 2000 years ago when Qu Yuan, an honest minister, was said to have committed suicide by drowning himself in a river.

International students learn to wrap zongzi, or glutinous rice dumplings, using bamboo leaves at Siping county in Jinhua city, Zhejiang province on May 28, 2016. Eating Zongzi has become a custom during the Dragon Boat Festival, symbolizing the rice offerings to Qu Yuan. [Photo/VCG]