Beijing hosts dragon boat race for Duanwu Festival

Editor's Note: Beijing held a dragon boat race on the Grand Canal to celebrate the Duanwu Festival on May 31. The event featured amateur and professional divisions as well as a dragon boat skills demonstration by a team from Guangdong province in southern China.

The Duanwu Festival, which falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, commemorates the ancient Chinese poet Qu Yuan, who lived during the Warring States period (475-221 B.C.).

The festival features a variety of traditions, most notably dragon boat races, and therefore is also known as the Dragon Boat Festival.

Teams compete during a dragon boat race on the Grand Canal in Beijing on May 31, 2025, in celebration of the Duanwu Festival. [Photo by Chen Boyuan/China.org.cn]