Check out these 10 interesting facts about Dragon Boat Festival! How many of these do you already know?

1) The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese Lunar Calendar.

2) In China, the Dragon Boat Festival is called DuanWu Festival in Mandarin and Tue Ng Festival in Cantonese Chinese Pronunciation.

3) In many countries other than China, DuanWu Festival only refers to only one part of the celebration, which is dragon boat racing.

4) The sport of dragon boat racing celebrates the life of a renowned poet named Qu Yuan. He was banished after opposing an alliance the king wanted to enter into, and eventually he committed suicide by drowning himself into the Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth month.

5) The villagers tried to recover Qu Yuan’s body by paddling out on boats. That was how the dragon boat races started.

6) Dragon Boat Racing is the fastest water sport activity in the world today.

7) Dragon boat racing has been in China for over 2,000 years.

8) Dragon boat racing is practiced in over 50 countries in the world.

9) The International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF) organizes dragon boat races and sets standards and regulations for the sport.

10) People’s Republic of China only recognized the Dragon Boat Festival as a traditional and statutory holiday in 2008.

Link: http://www.chinesecultureshop.com/10-interesting-facts-about-dragon-boat-festival/