As Quyuan’s hometown, Yichang holds art festival in memory of this great poet every year, which leads to richer cultural atmosphere in Yichang than that in any other places in Hubei Province during the Dragon Boat Festival. Yesterday, the reporter interviewed Li Mingtao, General Manager of Hubei Jiuzhu Egg Industry Co., Ltd. Jiuzhu Group is the biggest supplier of Dragon Boat Festival products in Yichang. And according to him, data show that the annual sales of Dragon Boat Festival gifts in Yichang reached more than 10 million RMB in recent years. While in Jingzhou City and Xiangyang City, where people also celebrate Dragon Boat Festival, the number is just 3 million. Then it’s not hard to tell people in Quyuan’s hometown are extremely fond of the Dragon Boat Festival.

　　According to Li, every year, sellers of Dragon Boat Festival products would add up the sales on the fifth day in May in Chinese lunar calendar and keep each other informed. This year, because of the government’s anti-corruption policy, group purchase of these products by government agencies and institutions decreased 60%, compared with that in last year. And all these products are sold in bulk instead of gift package. Contrary to group purchase, retail sales in Yichang market increased by more than 30% in comparison with that in last year. As the central government issued strict policy to control purchase of festival products by government agencies and institutions, suppliers in Yichang started clearance sale three days before the Dragon Boat Festival to promote the sales. This year in supermarket, such products are 20% off, a more tangible profit than that in the past. Because of citizens’ passion for the festival and the decrease of group purchase by government agencies and institutions, the retail market boomed. After all, the products sale during Dragon Boat Festival in Yichang this year is flat with that in last year, but it would no longer be possible to achieve a 20% increment in the market as it did in the past few years.

　　It’s also learnt that egg products for Dragon Boat Festival are mainly supplied by Honghu, Xiantao, Jianli and other places in Hubei Province. Statistics show that retail sales increased in the whole country and group sales declined. Unfortunately, overall sales are severely down in Chengdu, Changsha and Wuhan. In Wuhan City, the sales of a supplier alone in Zhongbai Supermarket, which belongs to Zhongbai Holding Group Co, Ltd. declined one third.

　　Yichang provides far less egg products than Honghu or other places in Hubei Province, but thanks to all these activities to celebrate Dragon Boat Festival in recent years, Yichang has gained a bigger and bigger market of zongzi, which is a kind of glutinous rice dumpling that is eaten on that day. Located in the hometown of the great poet Qu Yuan, a batch of Yichang local brands are making the most of their favorable location to develop their market. A lot of Yichang local zongzi brands, such as Chuyuan Zongzi, are promoting their sales and competing with other brands in Jiangxi and Zhejiang Province. On this year’s Dragon Boat Festival, it was the local brand, Chuyuan Zongzi that was used at the sacrifice ceremony. Such activities strengthened the locals’ confidence to bring the products to the markets of the whole country.