There is a very famous traditional Chinese story that has a close connection to the Dragon Boat Festival. Once upon a time on E-Mei mountain there lived two snake spirits, White Snake and Green Snake. These snakes, being magical, turned themselves into beautiful maidens and set off on a journey to the West Lake of Hang Zhou.
When they arrived at West Lake they met a man named Xu Xian. White Snake quickly fell in love with Xu Xian and they were soon married. A Buddhist monk, named Fa Hai, warned Xu Xian of his wife's deceptive appearance and suggested to him a plan.
On the day of the Dragon Boat Festival White Snake wished to stay home so as to avoid the Ay Tsao, used for protection from spirits, hanging on the doors of people's houses. Her husband prepared, according to Fa Hai's instruction, some realgar wine, as this was a tradition during the Dragon boat festival. White Snake, thinking her magic would protect her from the effects of the realgar wine accepted a cup. After she drank the wine she became very ill and was barely able to get to her bed.
When her husband came to her side, he found not his wife but a huge white snake. So great was Xu Xian's shock that he fell to the floor dead.
After recovering from the realgar wine and regaining her human form, White Snake was grief-stricken to find her husband dead. She set off on a journey to obtain a potent medicinal herb, which could revive her husband. After returning and reviving her husband with the medicine, she explained to Xu Xian that the white snake he saw was actually a dragon and that this vision was indeed a very good omen. Xu Xain's fears were put to rest for the moment by his wife's fanciful story…
白蛇傳另一個與端午節息息相關的中國傳統故事是“白蛇傳”。從前，在伊眉山上有兩只蛇精，白蛇與青蛇。這兩只蛇精運用法力將自己變成美麗的女子，并到杭州
西湖游玩。
當他們在西湖游玩時，遇到一位名叫許仙的男子，白蛇與許仙很快的相戀并且隨即結婚。當時一位名叫法海的和尚，曾經警告許仙注意他妻子惑人的外表，并建議他一個知道真相的計畫。端午節當天，白蛇待加家里以避開人們掛在門上驅邪的艾草，而許仙則依照法海的建議準備了大家在端午節時都會喝的雄黃酒。白蛇自認魔力可以抵擋雄黃酒對他的影響，因此喝了一杯。但是在他喝下那杯酒之後，他卻變得精疲力竭，幾乎走不到床上。當許仙回到白蛇身邊，看到的不是自己美麗的妻子，而是一只巨大的白蛇，許仙震驚不已且跳樓自殺。
當白蛇恢復精力及人形時，他才發現自己丈夫已經身亡，因此白蛇外出尋找能使許仙起死回生的強效藥草。許仙在服用藥草，并起死回生之後，白蛇告訴許仙他看到的那條白蛇，其實是一只代表吉相的龍。而在那時，許仙也在白蛇引人入勝的故事中將恐懼拋諸腦後…。