Dragon tales

This year marks the first time in the country's history that the Dragon Boat Festival (this coming Sunday, June 8) has been declared a national holiday. The Chinese people are due for another long weekend after the Pure Bright Festival, otherwise known as Tomb Sweeping festival, on April 4.

The festival that falls on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month is traditionally celebrated by eating zongzi -- glutinous rice dumplings -- and watching dragon boat races.

The Festival originated in the Warring States Period (475-221BC), when the great poet Qu Yuan drowned himself in the name of his political ideals. The common people were so stricken by this sacrificial act that they immediately set about retrieving the former official's body from Miluo River in Hunan, tossing zongzi into the river to distract fish and crabs from devouring the poet's body. Ever since, zongzi making (and eating) and boat racing have been traditional respectful rituals enacted in commemoration of Qu Yuan.