Festival · 节日

Dragon Boat Festival (端午节)

Zongzi, dragon boat races, mugwort to ward off illness.

Dragon Boat Festival (端午节) on lunar 5/5 commemorates the patriotic poet Qu Yuan (屈原), who drowned himself in a river in protest against corruption. Families race carved boats, eat sticky-rice zongzi wrapped in bamboo leaves, and hang mugwort and calamus at the door to repel illness during the disease-prone summer transition.

When does Dragon Boat Festival fall?

• 2026 — Friday, June 19, 2026 (2026年6月19日)
• 2027 — Wednesday, June 9, 2027 (2027年6月9日)
• 2028 — Sunday, May 28, 2028 (2028年5月28日)

Traditions

Zongzi (粽子)

Pyramid-shaped sticky rice parcels wrapped in bamboo leaves. Sweet (red bean, jujube) in the north; savory (pork, salted egg yolk) in the south.

Dragon boat races (赛龙舟)

Long, narrow boats with carved dragon heads race to the beat of a drum. Originated as a search for Qu Yuan's body.

Mugwort + calamus (艾草、菖蒲)

Hung at the door to ward off the "five poisons" of summer (snake, scorpion, centipede, toad, lizard).

Realgar wine (雄黄酒)

Adults sip; children get a smear painted on the forehead in the character 王 (king) — symbolic protection.

Common questions

What date is Dragon Boat Festival 2026?

Dragon Boat Festival 2026 falls on Friday, June 19, 2026 (lunar 5/5).

Why eat zongzi?

Legend says villagers threw rice into the river to keep fish from eating Qu Yuan's body. The bamboo-leaf wrapper protected the rice; the practice evolved into today's zongzi.