Duanwu Festival (Dragon Boat Festival)
China's traditional festival Duanwu falls on the fifth day of the fifth month on the Chinese lunar calendar. It is a major folk festival featuring deity worshiping, ancestor commemora- tion, praying for happiness, exorcising evil spirits, celebration, entertainment, and gourmet food.
Ancient Chinese's worship of nature and celestial motions have cradled the Dragon Boat Festival, and the customs of the festival derived from "offering sacrifices to the dragon" in prehistory times, which is why dragon and dragon boats have always been the icons for the festival. Besides the most impor- tant customs - dragon boat races and eating Zongzi (Chinese rice dumplings), there are also other customs like picking herbs, hanging wormwood, drinking xionghuang (realgar) wine, wearing five-colored silk threads and sachets and so on, which are gestures to help expel evil spirits and pray for happiness.
Duanwu Festival (Dragon Boat Festival) is celebrated in the Sinographic Sphere and by all those of Chinese nation, home and abroad. Dragon boat races are also influential in European countries and the U.S. In 2009, the Dragon Boat Fes- tival was selected into the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
端午节
农历五月初五是中国传统节日端午节，是拜神祭祖、祈福辟邪、欢庆娱乐和饮食的民俗大节。
端午节源于中国古人对自然天象的崇拜，由上古时期“祭龙”习俗演变而来，龙和龙舟文化贯穿端午节的历史传承。赛龙舟、吃粽子是端午节最重要的习俗，此外，还有采草药、挂艾草、饮雄黄酒、拴五色丝线、佩香囊等习俗，以期辟邪除灾、祈福纳祥。
端午节是流传于汉字文化圈和华人华侨中的传统节日，而龙舟赛事在欧美地区也颇具影响力。2009年，“端午节”列入联合国教科文组织人类非物质文化遗产代表作名录。
