The Dragon Boat Festival is a yearly holiday in the People's Republic of China. It celebrates Qu Yuan, a writer and a government leader who lived a long time ago and died because he loved his country very much. The Dragon Boat Festival is always on the 5th day of the 5th month of China's old calendar, but—because that calendar is based on changes in the moon and not the sun—it is not always on the same day of the new calendar. The old calendar adds a 13th month when it is very different from the seasons, though, so the Dragon Boat Festival is always in late spring.