Also called: Double Fifth Festival or Poet’s Day (Show more) Mandarin: Duanwu Jie (Show more) Cantonese: Tuen Ng (Show more) Dragon Boat Festival, prominent and festive Chinese holiday that originated at least 1,500 years ago and features dragon boat races and rice dumplings. It is one of the three “festivals of the living,” along with the Chinese New Year and the Mid-Autumn Festival. Known as Duanwu Jie in Mandarin and Tuen Ng in Cantonese, it is also called the Double Fifth Festival, because it is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month of the Chinese calendar, which falls in May or June on the Gregorian calendar. Legends associated with the festival and its observance center on memorials ...(100 of 1622 words) Access the full article Help support true facts by becoming a member. Subscribe today!