Virtual lockdown: Beijingers mark Dragon Boat Festival online amid coronavirus travel bans

Name: Zongzi: A must-try traditional treat for the Chinese dragon boat festival
Uploaded: 2020-06-24T23:45:13.000Z
Duration: 2 min 4 s
Description: Zongzi: A must-try traditional treat for the Chinese dragon boat festival

Measures to contain the new outbreak linked to a food market in the capital mean many cannot leave town during the festival

Some are forced to cancel celebrations with their families around the country, but the authorities are trying to compensate with online events

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Dragon Boat Festival was set to be an online affair in Beijing after the latest coronavirus outbreak. Photo: AFP

Echo Xie

Published: 7:45am, 25 Jun 2020Updated: 7:45am, 25 Jun 2020

Jenny Shen had planned a series of activities for her two-year-old son for the Dragon Boat Festival – the traditional Chinese holiday for family gatherings, watching dragon boat races and commemorating the death of Qu Yuan, an ancient patriotic poet.

The festival, held on the fifth day of the fifth month in the Chinese Lunar calendar, falls on Thursday this year.

Shen had planned to go to her parents’ home in Baoding – a city about 160km south of Beijing, where she lives – to have dinner with her extended family and make sticky rice dumplings, or zongzi, together. She also arranged to take a family photo, because her son has just celebrated his birthday.

But her plans have been thwarted after a new cluster of coronavirus infections emerged in the capital. Local authorities have stepped up measures to halt transmission of the virus, including restricting out-of-town travel.

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Zongzi: A must-try traditional treat for the Chinese dragon boat festival

Shen lives in Fengtai, a district classified as medium-risk because it has reported dozens of infections. Residents have been barred from leaving the city, joining tours or checking into hotels across Beijing.