The Qufu International Confucius Cultural Festival opened Tuesday in Qufu, Confucius' birthplace in east China's Shandong province.
More than 5,000 people from 16 countries and regions, including
the United States, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan, attended the
opening ceremony.
Zhou Qi, mayor of Jining City, said the current festival is to
provide a series of colorful and distinctive cultural programs,
academic exchanges and opportunities for economic and trade
cooperation.
During the festival, which runs from September 26 to October 10,
sacrificial rites will be staged every day in front of the
Confucius Temple.
Confucius (551 B.C.- 479 B.C.) is regarded as a great thinker
and educator in the Chinese history. Confucianism, the school of
thought that developed from his ideas, has had great influence on China's political, cultural and social environment for thousands of years.
The Cultural Festival, which started in 1984, has been
recommended by the National Tourism Administration.
(Xinhua)
