2024 Chinese Dragon Boat Festival Programme

Hunan

In Hunan, rich families with pregnant women throw auspicious coins into a jar of wine. They then place the jar on the head of a dragon boat and pray for the successful birth of an heir. Less affluent families might offer chicken and wine as a sacrifice instead. People also make straw boats and let them float away as a symbol of expelling God of Plague.

Taiwan

In Taiwan, Duanwu is also called Wuri (Meaning Fifth Day) Festival. People believe that if you can balance a raw egg on its end at exactly noon on the day, it is believed to bring luck for the rest of the year. Another custom practiced in Taiwan is “fetching noon water”, in which people draw well water on the afternoon of the festival in the belief that it will cure all illness.