China stages series of activities on cultural, natural heritage day

A poetry recital was held in the National Library of China (NLC) on June 6, marking the beginning of the NLC's lecture month on the protection of intangible cultural heritage in 2019.

Friday was this year's traditional Dragon Boat Festival. The rich variety of festival activities have become a major theme of this year's cultural and natural heritage day in Zigui county in Central China's Hubei province, the hometown of great poet Qu Yuan, with activities such as dragon boat races.

Aiming to raise the public's cultural confidence and awareness, the "open course on intangible cultural heritage," an educational television show that invites experts to tell stories about the inheritance of intangible cultural heritage, was broadcast on Friday evening.

An exhibition on guqin, the Chinese zither, a Kunqu Opera performance and a photo exhibition of intangible cultural heritage are also scheduled.

Since 2006, China has celebrated cultural heritage day on the second Saturday of June. In 2017, it was renamed Cultural and Natural Heritage Day.