This year’s Duanwu Festival falls on June 16, 2010. Duanwu Festival is traditionally celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month on the Chinese lunar calendar. Duanwu Festival is also known as Dragon Boat Festival.
Duanwu Festival is celebrated in memory of the famous Chinese scholar Qu Yuan. He was a loyal minister serving the King of Chu during the Warring States Period in the third century BC.
The main activities during the Festival include eating Zongzi and dragon boat race. Zongzi is a traditional Chinese food, made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo leaves. The time honored Wufangzai Zongzi is much sought after during Duanwu Festival. This morning I heated two zongzi to celebrated the festival, one with sweetened red beans and the other with meat filling.
Beside enjoying zongzi, dragon boat race is very popular in many places to celebrate this festival.
From last year, China government has designated one day off for Duanwu Fesital.
The date for Duanwu Festival is set on the fifth day of the fifth month on the Chinese lunarcalendar. The festival has no fixed date in terms of the Gregorian calendar.