The three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday, coinciding with International Children's Day, spurred a significant rise in family trips across China, with parent-child tours accounting for 35 percent of total bookings.

Falling on Saturday this year, the festival commemorates Qu Yuan (342-278 BC), a patriotic poet of the Chu State during the Warring States Period who drowned himself in the Miluo River to protest against government corruption. Local people threw zongzi -- sticky rice dumplings wrapped in reed leaves -- into the river to prevent fish from eating his body, originating the tradition of eating zongzi during the festival.
In Miluo City's Quzi Cultural Park, Hunan Province, the historical site of Qu Yuan's death, hundreds of student visitors participated in rituals reenacting the ancient memorial ceremony.
"I watched ancient-style music performances and saw people throwing zongzi into the Miluo River to commemorate Qu Yuan. These activities made my day both fulfilling and joyful. I hope to visit here again," said a student tourist named Yu Yan.
The cultural park also held dragon boat racing, which originated from villagers rowing in the Miluo River to rescue Qu.
The colorful events featuring Chinese traditions are expected to attract over 10,000 visitors on average per day during the holiday, setting a new record for this year.
"So far, compared to the same period last year, visitor numbers have increased by 56 percent while revenue has grown by 78 percent. This year, the [popularity] of parent-child tours and the enthusiasm for student visitors is exceptionally high," said Zhou Yang, staff of Quzi Cultural Park.
Also in Miluo, tourists are flocking to make xiangnang, a traditional scented sachet filled with mugwort and herbs originating from ancient plague-prevention customs, with workshops booked through July.
Similar heritage activities like rice seedling cultivation in Jiangxi's De'an and pottery-making in Jingdezhen are also attracting families seeking immersive cultural experiences.
The Dragon Boat Festival, also known as Duanwu Festival, is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month in the Chinese lunar calendar. This year, it fell on Saturday, May 31.