Some holidays are so much fun that they become popular outside of their culture. The most obvious example is (probable) Christmas, which is celebrated by people around the world. Similarly, in recent years, the Dragon Boat Festival has moved beyond China to become international holiday celebrated by people may know little about the holiday's origins.
The Dragon Boat Festival is one of three major Chinese (holiday), along with the Spring and Moon Festivals. Of the three, it is possibly the oldest, (date) back to the Warring States Period in 227 B.C. The festival was set in memory of Qu Yuan, who threw himself into a river. People jumped into their boats and tried (save) him. Then, hoping to drive hungry fish away from his body, people threw rice in the water.
Gradually, the story of Qu's (die) transformed into the traditions of racing dragon boats and (eat) zongzi – a kind of rice wrapped in bamboo leaves. Every spring there are nearly 60 dragon boat races, which (hold) outside of China in cities from Vancouver to Sydney, from Gdańsk, Poland to Cape Town, South Africa.
So what is it about the Dragon Boat Festival that attracts foreigners? "It's a(n) (usual) sport," says one racer from Germany. "There's such great team spirit in a dragon boat team – everybody feels like we're doing something special."
