(click on photo to enlarge)Today is in the Chinese calendar the fifth day of the fifth lunar month: Tuen Ng.
According to popular legend, that was when 2,000 years ago a Chinese national hero, Qu Yuan, drowned himself in a river to protest against corrupt rulers.
Legend also says people threw dumplings into the water to keep the fish from eating Qu Yuan's body. Which is why it is customary to eat steamed sticky rice and a sweet or savoury filling, the tout all neatly wrapped up in banana leaf.
Hereabouts, the Double Fifth is also public holiday. Since this year the festival falls on a Sunday, the holiday is on Monday.
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