The Dragon Boat Festival, a cherished traditional Chinese holiday, falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. This year, the festival is celebrated on June 10. It commemorates Qu Yuan, the beloved prime minister of the southern Chinese state of Chu during the Warring States Period around 600 B.C. to 200 B.C. The festival is renowned for its dragon boat races and sticky rice dumplings known as zongzi, both of which are Chinese traditions. The festival also encompasses prayers for good luck and a break from the summer heat.

In September 2009, UNESCO officially recognized the Dragon Boat Festival by including it in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, making it the first Chinese holiday to receive such an honor.

In Hangzhou, residents celebrate this festival in various ways, blending age-old customs with contemporary innovations.

Dragon boat racing, with a rich history of ancient ceremonial and ritualistic traditions, originated in southern central China over 2,500 years ago. Hangzhou’s Dragon Boat Festival, held at the Xixi National Wetland Park, is an annual event steeped in history and cultural significance.

The festival’s unique flavor is closely tied to zongzi. A key aspect of the celebration is making and eating zongzi with family members and friends. Traditionally, zongzi is made by wrapping glutinous rice and various fillings in reed or bamboo leaves, forming pyramid shapes. The leaves impart a distinct aroma and flavor to the rice and other fillings.

In Hangzhou, zongzi can be either sweet or savory. The classic varieties include savory meat zongzi and sweet red bean paste zongzi. However, some innovative vendors have introduced fillings like “Buddha Jumps Over the Wall” (a variety of shark fin soup in Fujian cuisine), braised intestines, and crayfish. Novel flavors such as durian and fish-flavored pork shreds have also become popular among adventurous consumers. In recent years, fillings like taro paste and custard have gained popularity as well.

Before the Dragon Boat Festival, residents place mugwort at their doorways, symbolizing the wish to ward off evil and bring good fortune, as well as to keep insects away. Nowadays, young people are getting creative with mugwort arrangements. Various aesthetically pleasing mugwort bouquets and wreaths adorn doorways, enhancing the festive atmosphere while maintaining an elegant appearance.