Yichang launches month-long Dragon Boat Festival celebrations

By Shen Yuan, Yichang International Communication Studio

Yichang will celebrate Dragon Boat Festival for a month from June 16, with an array of activities for citizens and tourists.



This year’s National Dragon Boat Festival Holiday begins on June 22, the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. The Festival commemorates Qu Yuan, one of ancient China’s greatest poets and politicians.

At a press conference on June 16, it was announced that Yichang will be one of the sub-venues of the Dragon Boat Festival Gala broadcast by CCTV.

Interest in Qu Yuan is particularly strong in Zigui County, where he was born, and where the opening ceremony of the 2023 Dragon Boat Festival will take place on June 21. Between June 19 and 23, Yichang will host its first Dragon Boat World Cup at the national dragon boat training base on Xujiachong Harbor in Zigui County.

Another Dragon Boat Festival event is the "Qu Yuan Cup" poetry contest. A group of Qu Yuan’s descendants from Taiwan will take part in the poetry session.

Zigui County is not the only part of Yichang celebrating. Other districts will stage academic forums, performances of the historical drama "Qu Yuan", as well as a global calligraphy competition.

The city's major shopping areas will display and sell special Dragon Boat Festival products. And there will be a host of cultural performances.

Multiple scenic spots in Yichang will organize dragon boat rowing, herbal pouch promotions, zongzi-wrapping (wrapping traditional rice dumplings) and other Dragon Boat Festival activities.