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The birthplace of Dragon Boat Festival

By Guo Rui and Wang Xiaoming (China Daily Hubei Bureau)
Updated: 2010-06-17 17:55

Zigui, a county in Hubei province where the Dragon Boat Festival has its roots, is also the hometown of China's patriotic poet Qu Yuan. This year, the "2010 Dragon Boat Culture Festival and the Cross-strait Cultural Forum of Qu Yuan" was held in Zigui. It was a celebration of the success of adding the Chinese traditional Dragon Boat Festival on the World Heritage List last year.

This year's Dragon Boat Festival included 10 major features of folk activities, the Dragon Boat Races, the tradition of women visiting their parents, and smart cattle plowing in Le Ping Li. Together with politicians, poets, scholars and descendants of Qu Yuan, guests from Taiwan and the mainland tasted the charms of folk culture and tradition.

Newly reconstructed Qu Yuan Temple was officially opened during the festival. It is among the top four relocation and rehabilitation projects of heritages in the Three Gorges area, along with Zhang Fei Temple, Baiheliang and Shibaozhai in Chongqing.