Chinese Duanwu Festival

It's today! June 23, 2012.. start from 12am to 12am. Celebrate by every Chinese around the world. So excited!

Duanwu Festival


"Dragon Boat Festival" redirects here. For dragon boating as a sport, see dragon boat.

Duanwu Festival, also known as Dragon Boat Festival and the Double Fifth, is a traditional and statutory holiday originating in China and associated with a number of East Asian and Southeast Asian societies. In Mandarin, it is known as Duanwu Jié; in Hong Kong and Macau, by the Cantonese name Tuen Ng Festival; in Hokkien-speaking areas, by the names Go?-go?eh-cheh/Go?-ge?h-choeh (???) and Go?-ji?t-cheh/Go?-ji?t-choeh (???). In 2008, it was recognised as a public holiday in mainland China for the first time since the 1940s. The festival has also long been celebrated in Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia. Equivalent and related festivals in Asia include the Kodomo no hi in Japan, Dano in Korea, and T?t Ðoan Ng? in Vietnam.

The festival occurs on the 5th day of the 5th month of the lunar calendar on which the Chinese calendar is based. This is the source of the alternative name of Double Fifth. In 2011, this fell on June 6 and in 2012 on June 23. The focus of the celebrations includes eating rice dumplings zongzi (Chinese: ??; pinyin: zòngzi), drinking realgar wine xionghuangjiu (Chinese: ???; pinyin: Xiónghuángjiu), and racing dragon boats.

Like all other traditional festivals, Duanwu is reckoned in accordance with the lunar calendar consisting of 29 or 30 days. For this reason, Duanwu—the fifth day of the fifth moon, or double fifth—drifts from year to year on the Gregorian (solar) calendar.

The sun is considered to be at its strongest around the time of summer solstice ("mid-summer" in traditional East Asia, but "beginning" of summer elsewhere) when the daylight in the northern hemisphere is the longest. The sun (yang), like the dragon (long), traditionally represents masculine energy, whereas the moon (yue), like the phoenix (or firebird, fenghuang), traditionally represents feminine energy. The summer solstice is considered the peak annual moment of male energy while the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, represents the peak annual moment of feminine energy. The masculine image of the dragon is thus naturally associated with Duanwu.

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