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On the day before the Dragon Boat Festival, some metro line 2 passengers found their trains
had been decorated with real mugwort leaves. And there were also activities at some of
the stations to promote the story behind the festival.
For many people, the Dragon Boat Festival means eating zongzi, hanging up scented sachets
and rowing dragon boats. But inside this metro line 2 car, riders could see pictures of realgar
wine, poisonous insects and snakes, and colorful eggs. They're all key elements of the festival
to wish for good health and fortune. But not everybody knows that.
"I don't know about customs to drive away poisonous insects or snakes with realgar wine
during the festival," said Lu Xiuhong, "though I do hang mugwort leaves on my door every
year to get rid of insects. A lot of Chinese people learn customs from our parents. So
if they didn't tell me, I wouldn't know."
At Jing'an Temple station, riders - including expats - could learn how Chinese people traditionally
celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival.
"Yesterday some Chinese friends told me that will be the Dragon Boat Festival these days
so that's how I found out," said Julia Conrad. "The most interesting for me so far, I think
that was the egg was very funny, that they are giving the eggs to each other because
we have a similar custom in Germany as well, but this one is for Easter. It's like for
good luck and people give it to each other. It's something like this right?"
"I'm always trying to find "dragon" and "boat", and I don't know what Dragon Boat Festival
means," said Zak Agha. "I come from an island. And so when you say "boat", I think we go
fishing, like playing in the water. And I didn't know that I actually ate this before.
To me I think it's just a tree. But I guess they wrap the rice in it. This festival has
so much meaning and I think that's important."
Organizers say the metro system is a good place to show these cultural concepts to the
public - especially foreigners, since many of them take the metro. Organizers say they'll
expand the Chinese culture demonstrations to more metro stations and other public facilities
next year.