The Dragon Boat Festival is one of the traditional festivals in China and the intangible cultural heritage of the world. Every year on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, people celebrate this traditional festival in memory of the patriotic poet Qu Yuan.

The origin of Dragon Boat Festival

According to legend, Qu Yuan was a minister of Chu in the Spring and Autumn Period. In order to save the country, he gave up his official position and went to Dadong Mountain in the south of the Yangtze River. There, he wrote many patriotic poems, expressing his love for the motherland and calling for national unity.

Later, Chu State was destroyed by Qin State, and Qu Yuan couldn't bear the fall of his motherland, so he threw himself into the river on the fifth day of May. In order to prevent his body from being eaten by fish and shrimp, the people took out zongzi and threw it into the river for him to enjoy.

customs of the Dragon Boat Festival

There are many traditional customs in the Dragon Boat Festival, the most famous of which are eating zongzi and racing dragon boats.

eating zongzi is one of the traditional customs of the Dragon Boat Festival. Zongzi is a kind of food made of glutinous rice, bean paste, meat and other ingredients, which is wrapped in bamboo leaves. Eating zongzi can not only commemorate Qu Yuan, but also drive away evil spirits and avoid diseases.

Dragon boat racing is also one of the traditional customs of the Dragon Boat Festival. Dragon boat is a long boat with a dragon head at the bow and a dragon tail at the stern. In the dragon boat race, the team members should row with all their strength and strive for the first place.

Modern Innovation of the Dragon Boat Festival

With the changes of the times, the celebration methods of the Dragon Boat Festival are constantly innovating. Modern people not only eat traditional zongzi and dragon boat races, but also hold various interesting activities, such as Dragon Boat Festival and Dragon Boat Festival Concert.

In addition, modern people will add various flavors to zongzi, such as salted meat zongzi, yolk meat zongzi, red bean zongzi and so on. These new flavors of zongzi not only satisfy people's taste buds, but also let people know more about the cultural connotation of the Dragon Boat Festival.

How to make zongzi

The steps of making zongzi are as follows:

1. Preparation materials: glutinous rice, bamboo leaves, meat, red bean paste, etc.

2. soak the bamboo leaves in water until they soften.

3. soak the glutinous rice in water until it becomes soft.

4. Make the stuffing such as meat or bean paste.

5. Cut the bamboo leaves into rectangles of appropriate size.

6. Put the glutinous rice on the bamboo leaves and put the stuffing on them.

7. Wrap the bamboo leaves and tie them with a thin rope.

8. put the wrapped zongzi in boiling water and cook for about 2 hours.