Some 10,000 spectators gathered to watch a parade along Shuncheng
Street in downtown Chengdu yesterday morning to mark the start of
the International Festival on Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The parade, which lasted an hour, was led by the Imposing Gong
and Drum company from North China's Shanxi Province, which is
regarded as the best in the country and has performed all over the
world since the 1980s.
Following the percussionists were singers and dancers from
Romania, South Korea, Russia, Africa, Brazil and Mexico; and the
ethnic Tibetan and Qiang people. There were also acrobats from East
China's Jiangsu Province, Buddhist monks from the Shaolin Temple of
Central China's Henan Province who demonstrated the Shaolin school
of martial arts, and Sichuan Opera performers spitting fire and
doing dragon dances.
Such was the quality of the performances that many spectators
mistook those involved for professionals.
But Qiang Ba, a middle-aged Tibetan who led a group of dancers
from Qamdo, Tibet, said: "Back home, all our dancers are farmers.
They have been working together for only two months."
The parade drew not only local Chinese but also foreigners like
Tang Rongmei, a 67-year-old American professor and 15 of her
students from the Guangya School in Chengdu at which she
teaches.
"We were excited to see the performances and kept taking
pictures. One student said she had never seen anything so grand in
her life," Tang said.
The international festival, which is approved by the State
Council and sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and the Sichuan
provincial government, was organized by the Chengdu municipal
government, the Sichuan provincial department of culture and the
China national center of intangible cultural heritage protection.
It is aimed at furthering China's efforts to protect its intangible
cultural heritage and enhancing its global influence in the field,
Ding Wei, assistant to the minister of culture, said.
Chengdu was chosen to host the event because of its position as
one of China's most historically and culturally famous cities and
its efforts to protect and develop cultural heritage, Ding
said.
"Chengdu is the only Chinese city which has neither changed its
name nor its location for more than 2,000 years. That fact alone
justifies the decision to choose Chengdu as the venue for the
festival," he said at a press conference held in Chengdu on
Tuesday.
Deng Gongli, deputy secretary-general of the Chengdu municipal
government, said a total of 520 performers from 52 countries
participated in the parade.
The carnival also included the first ever performance in China
by the world-famous Roundabout Samba band from Brazil, Deng said.
He added that many of the performers involved in the parade will
perform again at eight venues in and around Chengdu over the course
of the festival.
A related exposition also opened yesterday in the city's
National Intangible Cultural Heritage Park featuring more than
1,000 items from around the world.
(China Daily May 24, 2007)
