Today is the fifth day of the fifth month in the lunar calendar, and that makes it a major holiday, the Duanwu Festival, also known as the Dragon Boat Festival.

Duanwu commemorates Qu Yuan, a famous Chinese scholar, who was expelled from the royal court after conspiracy charges made up by jealous officials, and later drowned himself in the Milo River. To deter the fish from eating his body, the townsfolk decided to make zongzi rice dumplings and throw them into the water.

To make a Wednesday holiday into a long weekend, Monday and Tuesday have also been declared holidays. While many countries have such a rule, the Chinese are doing it wrong, though: To compensate for the two extra holidays, Saturday and Sunday were turned into working days instead.