Chinese Dragon Boat Festival nears

This year's Dragon Boat Festival falls on Thursday - the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.

This year's Dragon Boat Festival falls on Thursday  - the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.

The Festival commemorates Qu Yuan, a poet and an official during the Warring States Period more than 2,000 years ago. Qu did much to fight rampant corruption and was loved by the people. But that earned him the envy of other officials and he was forced into exile. He threw himself into the Miluo River in despair and drowned.

According to legend, rice dumplings were thrown into the river to prevent fish from eating the poet's body. The rice dumpling is called Zong Zi in Chinese. From that time on, people eat various kinds of rice dumplings, hold Dragon Boat Races and other activities on the anniversary of Qu's death.