The Wu Chang Dragon Boat Festival
The Wu Chang Dragon Boat Festival is a unique traditional folk celebration activity in the Wuchang area of Xixihu Wetland, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.
History
As a traditional folk cultural event in the Wu Chang district, the Dragon Boat Festival has a history of more than 500 years. It is said that during the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Qianlong, while touring the south of the Yangtze River, watched the Wu Chang Dragon Boats and praised them as the ‘Dragon Boat Festival,’ which led to the widespread fame of Xixihu. There is also a folk tale that during the Ming Dynasty, Minister Hong Zhong, who retired in Wu Chang, organized dragon boat races with small wooden boats adorned with dragon heads by the villagers during their leisure time in May, which later evolved into the ‘Dragon Boat Commotion.’ Although the origins of these legends are unverifiable, for centuries, the annual Dragon Boat races on the Dragon Boat Festival have become an indispensable folk activity for the people of Wu Chang, and they have never been interrupted.
Date
The festival opens on June 10th, Monday, corresponding to the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.
