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英语文摘:Dragon Boat Festival observed nationwide with traditions back

Source: Onion 2009-05-29 English BBS Favorite

BEIJING, May 28 (Xinhua) -- Zhang Xuanqi got up Thursday morning and fastened a small hand-made scent bag on his shirt. This kind of adornment has been a must for him on this special day every year since his childhood.

"Inside the bag is cinnabar that can keep away evils," said Zhang, a middle school student in Quwo County, Shanxi Province.

Local people take part in the dragon boat race to mark the Duanwu Festival, also known as the Dragon Boat Festival, in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, May 28, 2009. The Duanwu Festival falls on May 5 of Chinese lunar calendar. This year's Duanwu festival falls on Thursday.It is generally believed that the Duanwu Festival is marked to remember to Qu Yuan, one of the greatest ancient Chinese poets who drowned himself in the Miluo river to protest the corrupt court.

As Chinese celebrated the Dragon Boat Festival, or Duanwu, which fell on Thursday this year, folk customs for this event have been reviving among both the old and young in this fast developing country. To wear small bags, usually with cinnabar, medicinal herbs or aromatic materials inside, is one of the traditions.

The festival is for people to remember Qu Yuan, a patriotic poet more than 2,000 years ago, who, according to legend, drowned himself in the Miluo River in Hunan Province to protest the then corrupt kingdom.

Residents take part in a Zongzi making competition in Zhoushan, east China's Zhejiang Province, May 28, 2009, to celebrate the Chinese traditional Duanwu Festival, also known as the Dragon Boat Festival

People also eat glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves, or called zongzi, to observe the festival. Legend has it that people drop zongzi into the water to feed Qu Yuan's spirit. Others say that they are meant to keep fish from feeding on Qu's body.

VARIOUS ACTIVITIES

On Thursday, dragon boat races were organized in many places across the country.

To mark the event, the 2009 National Dragon Boat Month and the Fourth China International Dragon Boat Tournament kicked off on the Miluo River. Ten domestic teams and an American team joined the competition.

Chinese folk artists perform lion dance to mark the Duanwu Festival, also known as the Dragon Boat Festival, in Baoshan, east China's Shanghai Municipality, May 28, 2009.

"Our fishermen members have been making use of the fishing ban period from late January to September to have dragon boat race training," said Jin Fangming, coach for the team from eastern Jiangsu Province.

In southern Guangdong Province, 68-year-old farmer Yao Songjie in Yangqi Village joined a boat race with dozens of other participants .

"This is an activity we farmers love most," he said before the race began.

Chinese folk artists perform for local residents to mark the Duanwu Festival, also known as the Dragon Boat Festival, in Taiyuan, capital city of north China's Shanxi Province, May 28, 2009. The Duanwu Festival falls on May 5 of Chinese lunar calendar. This year's Duanwu festival falls on Thursday.It is generally believed that the Duanwu Festival is marked to remember to Qu Yuan, one of the greatest ancient Chinese poets who drowned himself in the Miluo river to protest the corrupt court.

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