Dragon Boat Festival observed nationwide with traditions back

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.

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.  (Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing)

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

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.

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. (Xinhua/Hu Sheyou)

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.

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.