Healthy traditions

Reflecting on the significance of the festival, writer Guo Wenbin says: "If you study carefully the major legends of Dragon Boat Festival, you will find that they are about the core values of Chinese culture－loyalty and filial piety. And the Chinese have been passing on such values via these festivals."

According to him, the Chinese have worshipped the dragon since ancient times. And the dragon absorbs the qualities of all other animals to symbolize a culture of inclusiveness.

In 2006, Guo wrote a short story about Dragon Boat Festival, winning the Lu Xun Literature Prize. It's based on his childhood memories of his hometown, Xiji county, in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region.

In his childhood, when Dragon Boat Festival came, everyone wore colorful bands and carried herb sachets, and he still remembers the fragrance in the air. And they also ate huamomo, steamed buns made of wheat flour.

Guo says if a traditional festival loses its function, it's more likely that it will no longer be popular.

"To revive our traditional festivals, the key is to recapture the soul of these festivals－a sense of belonging for the Chinese. And that's what the government and Chinese people have been striving to do in recent years."