Dragon Boat Festival in China

[cathycai]

Traditional Dragon Boat Festival is coming!

On Chinese lunar calender May 5th(on solar calendar June 8th for year 2008), it is our traditional Dragon Boat Festival.

Dragon Boat Festival is one of the oldest traditional festivals, starts at China's Spring and Autumn period, has been 2000 years of history.It is said to the great poet of ancient China, One the world's four major cultural celebrities, Qu Yuan, he vote Guluo patriotic day. Historical records, 278 years BC, the Lunar May Chu Wu, Chu doctor, patriotic poet Qu Yuan Qin defeated Chu capital to hear the news, grief and indignation,grieved, Wright the last poem"Huaisha" and vote into Miluo River, with his patriotic. The people along the river all went to salvage him, sought the boat races along, beckon his spirits, put the dumplings into teh river to make the fish and shrimp to avoid eating into his body...

Afterwards,on this day of every year, there will be a Dragon Boat Festival, eating dumplings, drink Xiong Huang Alcohol, in order to commemorate the patriotic poet Qu Yuan.

Now,the Dragon Boat Festival has been a Folk Festival: multi-ethnic national fitness, illnesses and disease prevention, to avoid disease, and pray for the health.