The Fourth Yangtze River Gorges International Dragon Boat Rally opened on Sunday in Yichang city in central China's Hubei Province to honor Qu Yuan, an ancient Chinese poet and patriot who committed suicide more than 2000 years ago.

The festivities are taking place in Zigui county of Yichang city, Qu Yuan's hometown.

Twenty teams are taking part in the contest, which included a 500-meter sprint on Sunday, and a 35-kilometer rally on Monday.

Yichang is a city with a population of 546,000 that lies in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, and is the site of the Ge Zhou Ba and the Three Gorges Dam hydrogen power projects in the western mountain area of Hubei. This is the third time since 1992 that Yichang is hosting the boat rally.

The rally is recognized by the International Dragon Boat Federation as a standard contest.

Qu Yuan, one of China's most famous poets, committed suicide in the Miluo River in Zigui, after discovering that the kingdom he served was to be conquered in 278 BC. He is revered as a patriot by the Chinese people and was listed by the World Peace Council as a world cultural celebrity in 1953.

Qu Yuan's poems such as Li Sao and Jiu Ge were first introduced overseas about 153 years ago in the German language.

It is believed that the traditional Chinese festival, duanwujie, came about to commemorate Qu Yuan's death anniversary. Duanwujie falls on the fifth day of the fifth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, typically sometime in mid June. This year, the festival falls on June 11.

On duanwujie, glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves, or zongzi, are thrown into the river. Legend has it that it was to prevent the fish in the river from eating Qu Yuan. Dragon boat contests are also a main feature of duanwujie celebrations. 

(Xinhua News Agency June 6, 2005)