Yangtze culture celebrated in Jiangsu

The 2021 Yangtze River Culture and Art Festival kicked off in Zhangjiagang, East China's Jiangsu province, on Nov 14, celebrating the evolutionary history and growth along the Yangtze River through folk music performances and relic displays.

The festival is sponsored by the Publicity Department of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, the Suzhou city government and Nanjing city government.

Nine big events are arranged, including an exhibition of archaeological discoveries from the Yangtze River and an intangible cultural heritage display. Some 100 performances and 150 folk programs from 12 provinces and cities along the Yangtze River are scheduled.

To get more people involved, festival organizers are holding some events online, such as an online call out for music praising the Yangtze River.

The festival, which was initiated in 2004 by the Zhangjiagang government, has become a nationally renowned cultural event and an important symbol of the Yangtze River, according to local officials.

The festival has won an innovation award from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and is listed as one of the three cultural brands with local characteristics cultivated by Jiangsu province.

Located on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, Zhangjiagang is a county-level city that carries the responsibilities of promoting Yangtze River culture, local officials said.

In recent years, the city has established a national first-class association studying Yangtze River culture and the nation's first museum promoting Yangtze River culture.

A great number of Yangtze River-related events feature in the city's cultural calendar, such as art competitions, photo contests, drama festivals, a folk culture art festival and high-level forum on Yangtze River culture. Culture lovers and dramatists are given chances to share their viewpoints at many seminars hosted by the local government. Awards to celebrate standout poems and reviews have also been set up.

The festival is becoming a high-quality platform for cultural exchanges and cooperation among cities along the Yangtze River, and it's playing a special role as a bridge to boost economic and social development, local officials said.

Han Wei, Party secretary of Zhangjiagang, said: "We have upgraded the Yangtze River Culture and Art Festival and we take this as a new starting point to further shoulder the missions of protecting, inheriting and promoting Yangtze River culture.

"We will study Yangtze River culture thoroughly, encourage traditional cultures to innovate, and bring greater dynamism into the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, which strings up 11 provinces and cities from east to west."