Traditional food, colorful handmade bracelets, salted duck eggs and bouquets of mugwort are on sale at local markets in Kunming City, Yunnan Province, ahead of the upcoming Dragon Boat Festival. Zongzi, a type of glutinous rice dumpling, is a traditional must-try delicacy at the festival, which falls on June 10 this year. It is stuffed with various fillings and wrapped in bamboo leaves.
In ancient times, the famous poet Qu Yuan threw himself into the river to protest the political corruption of the day. And people made zongzi and threw the food into the river to prevent the dragons and fish from eating Qu's body, according to ancient legends. Since then, Chinese people have made zongzi every year to commemorate the patriotic poet. As a time-honored tradition, zongzi have evolved with different tastes and spread to many other regions in Asia.