The 2026 Dragon Boat Festival Cultural Festival in Qu Yuan’s hometown kicked off in Yichang, showing a Dragon Boat Festival scroll that blends ancient and modern times.

Zong leaves are spread out, fresh mugwort is fragrant, and the Yangtze River Gorge wind in June carries the fragrance of vegetation through the streets of Yichang. On June 19, the 2026 Dragon Boat Festival Cultural Festival in Qu Yuan's hometown kicked off as scheduled. A series of activities with the theme of "Chinese Dragon Boat Festival·Vibrant Yichang" unfolded a Dragon Boat Festival picture that blended ancient and modern times in the midsummer season. As the hometown of Qu Yuan and the core inheritance site of the Dragon Boat Festival intangible cultural heritage, Yichang's Dragon Boat Festival practice is like a window, allowing us to see clearly why a festival that has lasted for more than two thousand years still has the power to move people's hearts.

The lively scene of dragon boat racing written by Zhang Jianfeng in the Tang Dynasty is still being staged on the Zigui River today. "The drum beat three times, the red flag opened, and two dragons jumped out of the water." The grand scene described in ancient poems has not disappeared in ancient books and texts. Before the start of the game, local elders will dot the eyes of the dragon head according to the ancient rituals of Chu. The fleet will slowly cruise the river to perform the ritual of summoning souls. The entire process has been passed down from generation to generation without simplifying it in the slightest. The wooden oars broke through the river water, and the splashing sound connected the ancient and modern people's thoughts about Qu Yuan. The dragon boat race on the Yiling River section is even more innovative. Teams from all over the country gather on the river, and the sound of drums floats along the surging river to villages and towns upstream and downstream. In Yichang, during the entire month of Dragon Boat Festival, every household is busy making glutinous rice, tying rice dumpling leaves, and sewing sachets. In their free time, they meet with neighbors to recite the Songs of Chu. The elderly teach children how to make rice dumplings, and neighbors give mugwort to each other. The atmosphere of fireworks is wrapped in tradition, which is warm and real.

Across the country, Dragon Boat Festival customs have their own charms. Dragon boats are constantly shuttled in the water towns in the south of the Yangtze River. In the north, mugwort is hung in front of every door. People in the south of the country go to the river to wash the dragon boat water. People in the southwest wear colorful sachets. Regional customs are diverse, but the core is always the same, which is to recall the character of the ancestors and pray for the well-being of the family. Such an inclusive look is the most vivid portrayal of the diversity and unity of Chinese culture.

However, the Dragon Boat Festival has been able to last for more than two thousand years, and it has never relied on various folk rituals. What supports the continuation of the festival from generation to generation is the spiritual backbone left by Qu Yuan to the entire nation. We worship Qu Yuan every year during the Dragon Boat Festival. What we admire is not only his magnificent poems, but also the burning ideals and perseverance between the lines. "The road is long and far away, I will search up and down", which is the never-ending pursuit; "There is still something good in my heart, even if I die nine times, I still have no regrets", this is my unswerving intention. Qu Yuan cared about the people of his family and country. This purity and sincerity have long since become the spiritual foundation engraved in the blood of the Chinese people. In the past, when the country was in crisis, countless people with lofty ideals followed Qu Yuan's example and sacrificed their lives to serve the country; now in the prosperous and stable times, this pursuit has turned into the persistence of scientific researchers to tackle key problems all night long, and it has turned into the duty of ordinary people to take down their posts and work hard. We rush to the dragon boat racing venue and sit around the table to make rice dumplings. This is essentially a spiritual dialogue that spans thousands of years. In the familiar festival rituals, we relive the deep-seated feelings about our family and country. The most touching thing about Yichang Dragon Boat Festival is that Qu Yuan’s spirit enters the hearts of ordinary people along with the fragrance of rice dumpling leaves and the beating of drums on the river.

Some people may lament that festivals are becoming less and less popular. In fact, it is not the customs of making rice dumplings and boat races that are fading away, but the connection between tradition and ordinary people's daily lives. The Dragon Boat Festival in Yichang has just made up for the missing fireworks and warmth. The Dragon Boat Festival has a special public competition category, so ordinary citizens can board the canoe and paddle for themselves without professional training; there is no threshold for the Saotan Poetry Club, where experts in literature and history talk about the context of Chu Ci, and people on the street can also take the stage to recite poems composed by themselves; the riverside market blends the old and the new, with handmade sachets, ancient rice dumplings and other new Dragon Boat Festival cultural creations. Silver-haired elderly people can rediscover their childhood memories, and the younger generation can also find new favorite things. Grandparents and grandchildren sit around making rice dumplings, young people dressed in Hanfu stroll through poetry gatherings, and neighbors gather to chat about dragon boat racing. Traditional culture is no longer a distant and cold historical heritage, but a daily routine passed down from generation to generation.

The dragon boats on the Xiajiang River carry more than just the cultural and tourism scenery of a city. During the cultural festival, descendants of the Qu family from across the Taiwan Strait gathered in Zigui to worship Qu Yuan and watch the dragon boat race. The cultural memory of the same origin brought the compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait closer together across the Taiwan Strait. The event also extended invitations to global youth and overseas bloggers, inviting them to walk into the streets of the old city, board dragon boats, and tell the world about the authentic Chinese Dragon Boat Festival from their own perspectives. At the same time, free admission to scenic spots, the issuance of consumer coupons, and upgraded convenience facilities have transformed the popularity of the festival into real consumption vitality for people's livelihood, and the ancient context has given birth to new development momentum. As a world-class intangible cultural heritage, the Dragon Boat Festival is a city’s eye-catching cultural business card, a spiritual link connecting Chinese people at home and abroad, and a window for Chinese civilization to display its heritage to the outside world. A dragon boat rows across the Xiajiang River, connecting the past and the present, the land of China and the vast world.

A festival will eventually come to an end, but the inheritance of cultural heritage will never end. When ancient traditions proactively embrace the trends of the times, and their profound cultural context takes root in the streets, China's excellent traditional culture will always retain its vitality. This spiritual power that spans thousands of years has accumulated into firm cultural self-confidence and continues to inject endless vitality into the cultural construction of the new era.