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Shandong province's Laiwu has pulled out all stops to boost its burgeoning mugwort industry in the harvest season during the Dragon Boat Festival period.

The festival, one of China's four major traditional holidays and part of UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage, features customs such as eating zongzi and hanging mugwort.

While zongzi is a traditional Chinese dish made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo leaves, mugwort harvested during this period is highly valued for its medicinal properties, including hemostatic, anti-inflammatory, anti-asthmatic and anti-allergic effects.