• Date: Fifth day of the fifth lunar month (normally in June in Gregorian calendar)

The Dragon Boat Festival commemorates the death of the poet and statesman Qu Yuan, who drowned himself in 278 BC in protest at the corruption of the Chu state. According to tradition, people rowed out in boats beating drums to scare fish away from his body and threw rice dumplings into the water to feed the fish instead — giving rise to the central culinary symbol of the festival, the zòngzi（粽子）: glutinous rice stuffed with fillings such as pork, mushrooms, salted egg yolk, and peanuts, wrapped in bamboo leaves and steamed or boiled.

The dragon boat races themselves are the other centrepiece: teams of paddlers in long, narrow boats adorned with dragon heads race to the beat of a drum. The races are held on rivers and harbours across Taiwan, with particularly celebrated events in Taipei (on the Danshui River), Tainan, and Lugang. The atmosphere is festive and accessible to spectators.

Zòngzi appear in food stalls and shops for weeks before the festival, and regional variations: northern-style with dry-fried fillings, southern-style raw-filled. It often provokes good-natured debate among Taiwanese people.