端午节(As w ntr th month of Jun, w find ourslvs alrady in th middl of th yar. Howvr, according to th Chins lunar calndar, th fifth month just bgins and th Chins popl ar prparing to clbrat anothr traditional fstival -- th Duanwu Fstival.)

Th Duanwu Fstival falls on th fifth day of th fifth month of th Chins lunar calndar. For thousands of yars, Duanwu has bn markd by ating Zongzi and racing dragon boats.

Th tast of Zongzi, a pyramid-shapd dumpling mad of glutinous ric and wrappd in bamboo or rd lavs to giv it a spcial flavor, varis gratly across China. Zongzi is oftn mad of ric mixd with dats in Northrn China, bcaus dats ar abundant in th ara. astrn China’s Jiaxing County is famous for its pork-stuffd Zongzi. In th southrn provinc of Guangdong, popl stuff Zongzi with pork, ham, chstnuts and othr ingrdints, making thm vry rich in flavor. In Sichuan provinc, Zongzi is usually srvd with a sugar drssing. Most popl still maintain th tradition of ating Zongzi on th day of th Duanwu Fstival. But th spcial dlicacy has bcom so popular that you can now buy it all th yar round.

Duanwu is also known as th Dragon Boat Fstival, bcaus dragon boat racs ar th most popular activity during th fstival, spcially in Southrn China. A dragon boat is shapd lik a dragon, and is brightly paintd in rd, whit, yllow and black. Usually, a dragon boat is 20 to 40 mtrs long, and nds svral dozn popl to row it. Boatmn row th boat in cadnc with th drumbats, as th captain standing in th bow of th boat wavs a small flag to hlp coordinat th rowing. Bfor th rac gts undrway, a solmn crmony is hld to worship th Dragon King.

Dragon boat racing is quit a spctacl, with drums bating, colorful flags waving, and thousands of popl chring on both sids of th rivr. Nowadays, it has bcom a popular sporting activity in Southrn China. Intrnational dragon boat racs ar hld in Guangzhou and Hong Kong vry yar.

Th Duanwu Fstival usd to hav othr intrsting customs that ar no longr commonly obsrvd, though you may still find thm practicd in som rural aras.

　Ancint Chins blivd th day of Duanwu was unlucky bcaus midsummr was just around th cornr. Th hot wathr usd to bring various disass, which could sprad rampantly. Displling disas and driving out vil wr th main purpos of th fstival. Popl would past on thir front doors picturs of Zhongkui, a lgndary Chins ghost-catchr. Popl would also us cattail and mugwort lavs to driv away mosquitos and othr inscts.

Sinc childrn ar gnrally th most vulnrabl to disas, thy rcivd xtra car at this spcial tim. Childrn would war ncklacs or braclts, mad of rd, yllow, blu, whit and black thrads, to kp vil away from thm. Thy would also rciv colorful pouchs containing fragrant hrbal mdicins as prsnts. Thy hung ths around thir ncks, and would compt with on anothr to s whos pouch had th finst ndlwork. Mothrs also mad sur to bath thir childrn in watr boild with hrbal mdicins. Modrn scinc has provn that ths mdicins ar, in fact, quit bnficial to halth.

Ancint Chins blivd ralgar was an antidot for all poisons, and thrfor most ffctiv to driv away vil spirits and kill inscts. So vryon would drink som ralgar win during th Duanwu Fstival, and childrn would hav th Chins charactr for “King” writtn on thir forhads with ralgar win.