China celebrates Dragon Boat Festival

BEIJING

China on Friday celebrated the Dragon Boat Festival, also known as Duanwu Jie, with traditional zeal.

During the three-day festival, people in China enjoy dragon boat racing and eat zongzi (sticky rice dumplings). Duanwu Jie is celebrated every year on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.

Emin Onen, Turkey’s ambassador in Beijing, shared a video message on social media, congratulating people in China.

The holiday marks the death of a Chinese poet Qu Kuan who jumped in China's Miluo River in 278 B.C.

The villagers tried to save him but in vain, so they banged drums to keep the evil spirits away and fed the fish so that they do not eat him.