In what way(s) are the Dragon Boat Festival celebrated?

Question

What date is it celebrated on and how long does it last?
What foods are eaten?
Are there decorations and events?
Do people in China get time off of their jobs to celebrate the holiday?

Answer 1

Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated on the 5th day of the 5th month in the Lunar calender (traditional Chinese calender). Therefore, in the western calender, the date tend to shift every year.

They eat "Zong Zi", a glutinous rice ball, with a filling, wrapped in corn leaves. The fillings can be egg, beans, dates, fruits, sweet potato, walnuts, mushrooms, meat, or a combination of them. They are generally steamed.

The traditional decoration is Talisman and Charms to ward off evil spirit and decease.

Main event: Dragon Boat races are the most exciting part of the festival, drawing crowds of spectators. Dragon Boats are generally brightly painted and decorated canoes. Ranging anywhere from 40 to 100 feet in length, their heads are shaped like open-mouthed dragons, while the sterns end with a scaly tail. Depending on the length, up to 80 rowers can power the boat. A drummer and flag-catcher stand at the front of the boat. Before a dragon boat enters competition, it must be "brought to life" by painting the eyes in a sacred ceremony. Races can have any number of boats competing, with the winner being the first team to grab a flag at the end of the course.

Yes, people get a day off to celebrate this Holiday. This holiday is commemorate "Qu Yuan", a minister during the Warring States Period (475 - 221 BC)

Qu Yuan served as minister to the Zhou Emperor. A wise and articulate man, he was loved by the common people. He did much to fight against the rampant corruption that plagued the court-- thereby earning the envy and fear of other officials. Therefore, when he urged the emperor to avoid conflict with the Qin Kingdom, the officials pressured the Emperor to have him removed from service. In exile, he traveled, taught and wrote for several years. Hearing that the Zhou had been defeated by the Qin, he fell into despair and threw himself into the Milou River.

Answer 2

Dragon boat races started because of the search of famous poet's body in a river in china & people made the dumplings t throw into the river so that the fish would eat the dumplings instead of the poet's body.
details info can be found at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zongzi

Answer 3

Have dumplings ala chinois on this day. It's a one day celebration. HK, Taiwan & Mainland China, yes, public holiday. For multi-racial Malaysia, no, even-though Malaysia has chinese schools, chinese papers & chinese tv programmes.

Oh yes, in HK, we have Dragon Boat races at several venue. Few of the teams consist of non-Chinese, like Caucasians, Filipinos, etc.

Answer 4

http://chineseculture.about.com/library/weekly/aa052998.htm