When the aroma of zongzi is in the air, you know it's time for the Dragon Boat Festival.

    In 2023, it fell on June 22, the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. People have been celebrating it for more than 2,000 years. It is held in memory of Qu Yuan (340BC-278BC).The poet threw himself into the Miluo River in Hunan province after his mother kingdom fell into enemy hands. People threw rice and drove boats into the river, trying to scare fish away from hid body.

    Since then, dragon-boat racing is a nationwide event, held wherever there is a river, lake or sea. Boats are beautifully decorated, with wooden prows carved into dragon heads. The ends are carved into dragon tails, while the sides are painted with scales.

    The boat race may be the highlight of the day, but eating zongzi is a close second. It's a kind of sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves. In northern China, dried dates are added to the rice, while in southern areas, bean paste, meat, ham and egg yolk may be part of the recipe.

    Another festival tradition is to drink yellow wine. In ancient times, people believed that the warm May weather was a time when diseases could spread. They thought drinking this wine could protect them from illnesses.

     Families would also hang artemisia to ward off evil.