|

Keqiao district in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province welcomed 612,600 visitors and raked in 598 million yuan ($93.47 million) in tourism revenue during the Duanwu Festival holiday which lasted from June 12 to 14 this year, local media reported.

As the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China is approaching, red tourism ushered in its peak season. The rural and red tourism sites in Keqiao received 502,500 tourists and 43,800 tourists, respectively.

The Duanwu Festival, or Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, originated during the Warring States period (475-221 BC) and has a history of more than 2,000 years.

A hanfu show is held in Keqiao district during the Duanwu holiday. [Photo/shaoxing.com.cn]

In 2006, the traditional festival was listed as part of China's national intangible cultural heritage. In 2008, it was recognized as a public holiday in the Chinese mainland.

The Dragon Boat Festival commemorates the death of Qu Yuan, a Chu state official and poet who lived during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) before the reunification of China under the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC). 

He was exiled after opposing his king's decision to ally with the neighboring state of Qin, and when Chu was finally conquered by Qin, he committed suicide by drowning in the Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.