June 7th, 2019 is our Dragon Boat Festival, and we will have a three day's vacation. Hereby I tell you something about our Dragon Boat Festival.

The Dragon Boat Festival, also called Double Fifth Festival, is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth moon of the lunar calendar. It is one of the most important Chinese festivals, the other two being the Autumn Moon Festival and Chinese New Year.

The origin of this summer festival centers around a scholarly government official named Chu Yuan. He was a good and respected man, but because of the misdeeds of jealous rivals he eventually fell into disfavor in the emperor's court, and in his sorrow Chu Yuan threw himself into the Mi Low River. Because of their admiration for Chu Yuan, the local people living adjacent to the Mi Lo River rushed into their boats to search for him while throwing rice into the waters to appease the river dragons.

Traditions of this festival are the dragon boat races. Competing teams drive their colorful dragon boats forward to the rhythm of beating drums. A very popular dish during the Dragon Boat festival is tzung tzu ( We call it zongzi). This tasty dish consists of rice dumplings with meat, peanut, egg yolk, or other fillings wrapped in bamboo leaves.

Today, people eat tzung tzu (zongzi) and race dragon boats in memory of Qu's dramatic death. Hereby I enclose some pictures about our Dragon Boat Festival for your reference.