Dragon Boat Festival
19 June 2026 · movable holiday — Paddle in time! The drum beats and the zongzi smell sweet all the way to the stars!
The Dragon Boat Festival, or Duanwu, falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, so its Gregorian date shifts every year; in 2026 it is on 19 June. It is most often linked with Qu Yuan, a poet and statesman of the ancient state of Chu, who according to tradition drowned himself in the Miluo River. Local people are said to have raced out in boats to search for him and thrown rice into the water. Two main customs come from this: dragon boat races, where rowers keep time to a drum, and zongzi, sticky rice wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves. People also hang mugwort and medicinal herbs on their doors, and in some regions drink realgar wine. The festival is a public holiday in China, and in 2009 it was inscribed on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage. Falling at the start of summer, it is closely tied to the season, the rivers and the lunar calendar.
Flying across the sky: An ethereal, bluish-silver constellation-like long boat made of luminous dots and fine lines, with a dragon-head prow and a row of rowers keeping time to a drum
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