Breeders at Wuxi Zoo in east China's Jiangsu Province have prepared holiday treats for the resident animals in celebration of the Dragon Boat Festival, a traditional Chinese holiday that falls on Friday this year.
At the zoo's nutrition center, keepers laid out banana leaves, reed leaves, fresh fruits, vegetables and rice to make customized zongzi -- a special type of leaf-wrapped glutinous rice dumpling enjoyed around the country during the holiday.
Each zongzi was prepared with ingredients that meet the nutritional needs and preferred tastes of different species.
"This dragon boat-shaped zongzi is for chimpanzees. For baby chimpanzees, we made fruit-filled glutinous rice zongzi with a more tropical touch. And this tray of zongzi is for the lemurs," said Lu Weiling, a staff member at the zoo.
Around a dozen lemurs gathered around the tray to grab their share. Meanwhile, a much larger treat dubbed the "King Zongzi" was served to the zoo's Asian elephant, Wuwu.
"The 'King Zongzi' is approximately 1.4 meters long and weighs about 15.5 kilograms. We have hung it up so that Wuwu can use the full strength and flexibility of his trunk, which suits his usual eating habits," said Lu.
The Dragon Boat Festival, also called Duanwu Festival, is traditionally celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar to commemorate Qu Yuan, a renowned patriotic poet and minister of the State of Chu during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC).
Activities such as dragon boat races and eating zongzi have been passed down as traditional customs during the festival.
Animals in Wuxi's zoo enjoy tailored zongzi feast for Dragon Boat Festival
China is continuing to experience a box office boom this year, driven by a nationwide campaign to spur consumption with cheaper cinema tickets while a series of big summer releases are also enticing film fans out to theaters up and down the country.
Seen as one of the most lucrative periods of the year, China's summer box office season, which officially runs from June 1 to August 31, has now generated more than 10.7 billion yuan in box office revenue as of midday Thursday.
This has helped propel China's total box office revenue for 2026 above 26.5 billion yuan (over 3.9 billion U.S. dollars) as of Thursday afternoon, with more than 670 million moviegoers and over 96 million screenings recorded, according to the latest data from a leading Chinese ticketing platform.
The diverse line-up of summer blockbusters covers a broad range of genres, including comedy, animation, sci-fi, war, and suspense and action, offering audiences more choices and helping attract viewers from different age groups and with different interests.
Among the best performers is the anti-war film "Once Upon a Time in the Middle East," which tells the story of a chef working at a Chinese restaurant in the Middle East when war breaks out in the 2000s. It has drawn positive feedback both for its perspective on war and the vivid portrayal of life in the Middle East.
In just 10 days since its release on Aug. 11, the film has raked in over 1.2 billion yuan, catapulting it up the box office charts as it closes in on the year's biggest grossing films.
Ticketing data shows that the current top four on China's annual box office chart are the auto-racing sequel "Pegasus 3", Hong Kong director Stephen Chow's sports comedy "Kung Fu Soccer" about a team of female footballers, the touching family drama "Dear You", and animated film "All Wishes Come True!"
China launched a nationwide campaign this year to boost the cinema sector, with at least 1.2 billion yuan in subsidies planned throughout 2026 to make movie-going more affordable. Data shows the average ticket price for domestic-made movies has dropped to 39.5 yuan (less than 6 U.S. dollars) this year, some 20 percent lower in 2025.
China's summer film season continues as consumption campaign entices moviegoers
