Full coverage: Dragon Boat Festival

Thursday marks the Dragon Boat Festival, or 'Duanwu' Festival in China. It is one of the most important traditional festivals in this country and is celebrated annually on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. Here in the capital, many people marked the occasion by wearing Han-style costumes, and reviving some ancient traditions.

Celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival in ancient clothing

The participants gathered in the city's Yuan Dadu Relic Park, to celebrate the day by observing folk customs like stuffing sachets with herbs, weaving five-colored ropes and making Zongzi, which are sticky rice dumplings. The Dragon Boat Festival commemorates the death of patriotic poet Qu Yuan who was also minister of the Chu state in central China during the Warring States Period from 475 BC to 221 BC.