Festive village gala staged in Shandong's city

During the recent National Day holiday, an evening gala took place in Xutaiping village, in the Hedong district of Linyi city – in East China's Shandong province – to the obvious delight of the audience.

An exciting raft of acts, including Liuqin opera, Yu opera and kuaibanshu – a form of oral storytelling performance – were staged one by one, attracting thousands of villagers to watch on-site.

A Chinese fan dance is elegantly presented at the village evening gala. [Photo by Xing Ziqin for chinadaily.com.cn]

Hedong has launched a series of activities to enhance the cultural and social lives of rural residents over the past few years. The program of activities are entitled Two Festivals, Four Gatherings, Four Competitions. The "Two Festivals" describes the Farmers' Harvest Festival and the Rural Cultural Tourism Festival.

The "Four Gatherings" refers to the Yellow River Grand Gatherings in autumn, winter, spring and summer. Finally, the "Four Competitions" reference is about the village basketball, soccer, table tennis and chess competitions.

In addition to these events, Hedong has organized art exhibitions, volunteer services and technology promotions. They aim to boost creativity among rural residents during times such as the farming off-season period and traditional holidays.

Wang Jiuqiang, chairman of the literary federation in Hedong district, said that the drama tour launched on Sept 16 had already visited six towns, getting a very warm response from communities after 12 performances.

Moving forwards, plans are for Hedong to continue in the same vein in its rural areas through various activities – with the ultimate goal of boosting people's sense of community pride, fun and happiness. (Edited by Zhou Yunlai)