The Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional festival in East Asia. While it always falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, there are different customs in different areas. Besides eating zongzi, there is also a custom of drinking realgar wine, also known as xionghuang wine, on the Dragon Boat Festival. Realgar wine is a Chinese alcoholic drink that's made from Chinese cereals. In ancient times, it was believed that the drink could drive away evil spirits and get rid of toxins in the body. However, realgar does contain arsenic, so it is poisonous.

People cannot make xionghuang wine without the toxicity, so they have to buy it specially prepared.

Should xionghuang wine be drunk after all? How can we drink it? First of all, we should know the ingredients, and the reason for drinking this special wine on Dragon Boat Festival.

It is said that after Chinese poet Qu Yuan threw himself into the river, people in his hometown threw zongzi and salted eggs into the river to prevent dragons from eating his body. Among them, an old doctor brought a jar of xionghuang wine into the river and said it could kill the dragon. Because of this, many places in China have the habit of drinking xionghuang wine.

Xionghuang wine can be painted on a child's forehead to prevent mosquito bites. Famous Chinese writer Wang Zengqi has also mentioned the drink in his novels, saying: "Drink xionghuang wine. Paint on the child's forehead with xionghuang wine, which is custom found in many places."

Though this is the most famous wine, there are many kinds of drink to be had during the festival, including mugwort wine, plum wine. Because the Dragon Boat Festival and Grain in Ear - one of Chinese 24 solar terms - are very close, and the Grain in Ear solar term is also plum season, plum wine is considered a speciality.

May is when the most luxuriant growth of mugwort leaves happens, and due to the strong smell of the time, it became the seasonal plant during the Dragon Boat Festival. Mugwort leaves are easy to grow and very resilient. They tend to grow in the hilly areas of south China. The people here dry the leaves and then use them for many things, the most famous of which is to make wine.

(Cover image made by Yin Yating)