Taiwan's Dragon Boat Festival is on today’s Google Doodle

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Today's Google Doodle celebrates the Dragon Boat Festival, which happens on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar. Some people also call it the Double Fifth Festival. The festival has been around for a very long time, starting in the third century BCE. It's a way to remember and honor a poet named Qu Yuan.

Legend says that when Qu Yuan heard that his home, the Chu State, was defeated, he felt very sad. He threw himself into the Miluo River. The people in the area quickly went out in boats to try and find him and save him. But they couldn't find him, so they threw sticky rice dumplings into the water to keep the fish away from Qu Yuan. This is why people eat zongzi, which are rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves shaped like a pyramid, during the festival. The dragon boat races may have also started because of this story. The boats in the races represent the boats that went out to find Qu Yuan.

The most exciting part of the Dragon Boat Festival is the dragon boat races. People from all over Asia come together to watch the races. They see teams of people in long, colorful wooden boats paddling as fast as they can toward a finish line or a flag. Each boat can hold between 12 and 32 people, including the paddlers, drummers who keep everyone in rhythm, and someone who grabs the flag. The boats are decorated with a dragon head at the front. Before the race begins, the teams paint their eyes on the dragon to make it come alive.

Besides the races, there are other activities during the festival to bring good luck and prosperity. The fifth lunar month is considered unlucky and unhealthy because there are a lot of insects and pests during the summer. To keep them away, some people carry small bags filled with herbs and plants that bugs don't like. Others hang plants like mugwort, calamus, or wormwood on their doors and windows. Another fun tradition is trying to balance an egg on its end at noon. If you can do it, it's believed to bring good luck for a whole year.

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