There is a special custom during the Dragonboat Festival, and that is drinking Realgar Wine. Realgar is a type of medicine that detoxifies people and kills pests. This is why people in ancient times believed that drinking Realgar Wine kept them healthy.

In the famous Legend of the White Snake, the thousand-year-old snake spirit Bai Su-zhen only drank a few cups of Realgar Wine during the Dragonboat Festival, and lost all her powers. This made her reveal her true form in front of her beloved Hsu-hsian, and scared him to death.

Realgar Wine can make a thousand-year-old snake spirit lose her magical powers, not to mention other poisonous animals. For children who are too young to drink wine, there is another way to keep them safe: Take powdered Realgar and write “王 (king)” on the child’s forehead for the same protective effect.

端午節有一個特別的習俗，就是喝雄黃酒。雄黃是一種藥材，可以解毒，也可以殺死害蟲，所以古時候的人認為喝雄黃酒能讓身體健康，不容易生病。在知名小說白蛇傳裡，千年蛇精白素貞在端午節時，只是喝了幾杯雄黃酒，結果法力全部消失，在男主角許仙面前現出原形，把他嚇死了。

雄黃酒能讓千年蛇精失去法力，更不用說是其他有毒的動物了。小朋友不能喝酒怎麼辦？沒有問題，用雄黃在額頭上寫個「王」字，就會有同樣的效果。