In a blue tent in quake-hit Mianzhu city of southwest China's Sichuan Province, Huang Ping and his family are enjoying zongzi sent from thousands of kilometers away.

The pyramid-shaped rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves are usually eaten on the Dragon Boat Festival, the first national holiday after the May 12 earthquake.

"This is the most delicious zongzi I have ever had," Huang says.

More than 28,000 zongzi have been delivered from across the country to Mianzhu, said local officials. More are coming as people from Chengdu, Sichuan provincial capital, bring zongzi on the festival.

Chinese people can have one day off on the Dragon Boat Festival this year and a three-day break including the weekend, providing an opportunity to do volunteer work in the quake-hit zone.

In Mianzhu, volunteers have set up a "Love School" and organized a ping-pong match for more than 30 children. Two newcomers have brought textbooks from Shenzhen, a city in southern Guangdong Province.

Teachers and students from Beijing Normal University have erected a tent on the playground of Muyu Middle School where 286 students died in the earthquake. They have been helping children in Qingchuan County to recover their confidence.

"The psychological treatment has reduced their stress, but a lot of health problems still exist," said a volunteer.

Chen Lei, a travel club member in southeast China's Fujian Province, decided to donate money saved for travel to quake relief.

"I planned to travel in Zhejiang Province, but changed my mind after a friend called on club members to help during the holiday," Chen said.

The injured transferred to other provinces for treatment also felt the warmth of the festival. "Many people bringing zongzi and other gifts came to the hospital to visit patients on the festival," said Bai Yan, a nurse at Xijing Hospital in Xi'an, capital of northwestern Shaanxi Province.

But quake survivors are not only receiving.

"Villagers from Pengzhou (another heavily-hit city) came to our camp, bringing duck eggs and zongzi this morning to celebrate the festival with us," says Wang Huaijun, an officer with Jinan Military Area Command.

"They walked several kilometers to get here and set off fireworks for the celebration. It was really a big surprise," Wang says.

Chinese soldiers are under strict orders to accept no gifts from the public, but the villagers thought they had a duty to show their thanks.

"The soldiers have been building tents, repairing houses and clearing debris. We must force them to receive our gifts," says Gao Tiancheng, head of mountainous Bailu Town.

In previous years, Gao and his family got together for big dinners.

"But I cannot make it this year because of the quake has destroyed our hometown," he says. "We celebrate the festival by rebuilding houses on debris and planting rice seedlings in paddy fields."

The government plans to erect 1 million prefabricated houses in the next few months, and some survivors have already moved in to them.

In a prefabricated house in Yingxiu Town, Wenchuan County, 2-month old Jiang Hao enjoys lichees flown in from Guangzhou City.

"The government is building schools and hospitals. When they're built, I will send him to school," his grandmother says.

But Yang Heying has left her tent on the festival for Chengdu. She plans to learn to cook so she can start a catering business in Yingxiu.

"The government is helping us, and I must help myself. I have to find a way to earn a living," she said.

"I love Yingxiu. One day I will come back," she said. "The festival is a new start for me."

(Xinhua News Agency June 9, 2008)