People's Daily Online, June 18, 2012

 

On June 12, before the Dragon Boat Festival, the food street selling Zongzi (traditional Chinese rice dumpling) in Chengdu got quite popular among the people. Among all the shops, one named "Qu Family's Zongzi" was eye-catching. The owner of this shop, Ms Qu Huijun, claimed herself to be the 72nd generations of the famous Chinese poet Qu Yuan. Ms Qu even proved this by showing a genealogy book of the Qu Family. Qu Huijun was born in Tongnan, Chongqing. When she was very young, her family always made Zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival and held memorial ceremonies for Qu Yuan. In her hometown, many people still sell Zongzi to make a living nowadays.

 

The Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional Chinese festival when people hold memorial ceremonies for the well-known ancient poet Qu Yuan. It falls on May 5 on the Lunar Calendar every year. Now people still eat Zongzi, hold dragon boat races, and hang up calamus and wormwood during this period.