Nearly 20 international friends from the United States, Russia, the Philippines, Egypt, Yemen, Italy and Jordan experienced folk customs at the Duanwu Festival and the culture of southern Fujian on June 25 in Quanzhou, a city in East China's Fujian province.

Duanwu Festival, also known as the Dragon Boat Festival, is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar. It falls on June 25 this year.

During the event, English interpreters showed the visitors around the ancient city, and let them enjoy some delicious local food.

Meat zongzi -- a glutinous-rice dumpling -- is a kind of traditional cuisine at the Duanwu Festival of southern Fujian, Taiwan and even Southeast Asia. The organizers of the event prepared various ingredients including reed leaves, glutinous rice, shrimps, mushrooms and meat for the overseas guests to learn how to make zongzi.

International friends learn to make zongzi in the ancient city of Quanzhou. [Photo/qzwb.com]

They visited several historic tourist attractions in Quanzhou, including the Guandi Temple, Qingjing Temple, Houcheng Patriarch Palace, Minglun Hall, Zhongshan Road and Yuxi Alley.

In addition, the visitors enjoyed and experienced intangible cultural heritage skills such as listening to local Nanyin music and they also saw a puppetry show.

Officials said the event was part of the promotion activities staged in the ancient city of Quanzhou at the Duanwu Festival.

It aimed to further promote Quanzhou's cultural tourism resources and showcase the unique charms of the ancient city to visitors from abroad.