Today, boats are decorated with carvings of dragons and a drum is used on board to set the pace for the rowers. Strength, teamwork, and split-second timing are all important in the race. The oarsmen often sing songs with a strong, pulsing rhythm as they race for the finish line to the cheers of spectators on the river banks.

The custom of eating zongzi, a pyramid-shaped glutinous rice dumpling stuffed with pork or bean paste and wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves is also linked with Qu Yuan. When he died, the people believed that a man's soul would not be allowed to enter heaven if his body was not intact. So they dropped zongzi into the river in the hopes that the fish would not eat his body.