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Qingdao International Beer Festival
Qingdao International Beer Festival is a large-scale state-level festive event for the people of the whole city. Having beers as a medium and consolidating businesses and trade, tourism, science and technology, culture, and sports, the festival promotes the friendship and economic cultural exchanges between people of Qingdao and others all over the world. Since 1991, it has been held regularly for two weeks, starting from July 8 each year. When the festival is coming, the Beer City becomes a place of boundless joy with great dins of drums and trumpets. There are spectacular fireworks shows on the sea, together with a great parade made up of military bands, ethnic tropes, and arrays of colorful flags, balloons, and festooned vehicles. Tourists can indulge themselves with beers of many brands from all over the country. Meanwhile are held the "Summer of Qingdao" Art Show, sports competitions, professional seminars, sand sculpture contests, and exhibitions of calligraphy and paintings.
International Mt. Tai-Climbing Festival
Praised as the greatest of the five sacred mountains and the No. 1 Mountain all over the world, Mt. Tai is well known for its lofty, graceful appearance and its broad, profound history and culture. In 1987, it was listed as the natural and cultural heritage of the world. People of Tai'an have a long tradition of ascending heights on Chongyang (the ninth day of the ninth month on the lunar calendar). Millions of tourists from home and abroad are attracted to Mt. Tai each year. In order to further enhance the culture of Mt. Tai, promote the development of tourism and economy, and speed up the opening-up policy of the city, the International Mt. Tai- Climbing Festival is held from Sept. 6 to 8 every year, starting from 1987. The festival is a grand gala for tourism, sports, culture, business and trade. The climbing competition is held in groups of the international or the domestic according to the participants' nationalities, in groups of female and male, and in groups of seniors, middle-ages, and youth. The starting point is the Daizong Archway, the same for all groups, while the finishing points vary with the Mid Heavenly Gate for seniors, Southern Heavenly Gate for middle ages, and Yuhuang Peak for youth. The grand mimic ceremony of the emperor's conferring honorific title to Mt. Tai consolidates the primitive history and culture into the elegant art performance, and reproduces the outstanding sacrificial rite of worshiping the heaven and the earth, which seems to bring tourists back into the history. During the festival, an opening ceremony is held; large song and dance show are arranged; negotiations on tourist commodities, business and trade are conducted; various special tours are developed. Therefore, it has become a magnificent annual event for tourism, fascinating hundreds of thousands of tourists to Tai'an each year.
China International Confucian Festival
International Confucian Festival of Qufu, China is sponsored by Shandong Tourism Bureau and is designated as one of the greatest national tourist galas. Its purpose is to commemorate the great thinker of the past, conduct cultural exchanges, develop tourism industry, promote economic prosperity, and enhance friendship, while its organizing principle is that there is a major celebration every ten years, a minor one every five years, and one every year. China National Tourism Administration and Shandong Provincial Government sponsor the major celebrations, while the minor ones are organized by the city governments of Jining and Qufu. Leaders of the state, province and cities, and celebrities over the world are invited to the festival every year. Qufu holds ceremonial activities to commemorate Confucius, the great thinker, educator, and the founder of Confucianism, extending 15 days from Sept. 26 to Oct. 10 every year. Since 1984, Qufu has managed the festival successfully for 14 years, each time attracting more than 5,000 tourists and Confucian descendents from overseas, and more than 100,000 travelers from all the country. Now the festival has got known in the international market and become the favorite brand of travel route for tourists both at home and abroad. During the festival every year, there is a series of rich and colorful programs with a strong local flavor of the hometown of Confucius and Mencius. The major events are the opening ceremony; large-scale mimic music and dance performances worshiping Confucius; the great sacrificial ceremony to Confucius joined by Chinese and foreign tourists, compatriots, overseas Chinese, descendants of Confucius, and celebrities in every social sector; grand theatrical performances participated by national famous actors or singers, reflecting the Confucian and Mencian thoughts and culture, and having the local taste of the hometown of Confucius and Mencius; special tours such as Confucius' round trip to the states in the Spring and Autumn Period, study tours and wedding ceremonies in Confucius' hometown, and sightseeing in ancient chariots to the world cultural heritage-Confucian Temple, Mansion, and Cemetery, gourmet tours to enjoy the Kong family banquets and wedding banquets. At the same time, seminars are held to exchange Confucian thoughts and culture, together with various meetings or negotiations on business and trade. Isn't it delightful to have friends coming from afar? The warm and hospital 7,600,00 people of Jining, the hometown of Confucius and Mencius, welcome you to the China International Confucian Festival.
Heze International Peony Festival
Heze is known as Caozhou in its long history. After the punitive expedition by King Tang of the Shang Dynasty against King Jie of the Xia Dynasty, Heze was renamed as the State of Cao. In the 12th year during the reign by King Wu of the Zhou Dynasty, he conferred his uncle with the title of the Count of Cao. Nowadays Heze has become the political, economical, and cultural center in the southeastern Shandong Province. The outstanding characteristic of Heze is its peony, so it is called the land of peony. Till now, more than 600 species of peony have been cultivated with a planting area of 16,000 mu (1 mu equals 667 square meters). According to historic records, Heze was a garden city in the past, where lay dozens of famous gardens such as Wanhua (Tens of Thousands Flowers) Village, San'ai (Three Loves) Garden, Sangli (Mulberry Hedge) Garden, Ningxiang Garden, and Chaoyun (Nest in the Clouds) Garden. The major plants in the gardens were peonies. Around the solar term of the Grain Rain (April 6), peonies begin to bloom, and people, male or female, old or young, go to appreciate the peony flowers as a tradition. Therefore, local people call the Grain Rain as the flower festival. Many tourist attractions, such as Peony Garden of Caozhou, Baihua (Hundreds of Flowers) Garden, Gujin (Ancient and Contemporary) Garden, Calligraphy and Painting Institute of Caozhou, have been set up since 1982. People of Heze are sincere and unsophisticated, and they advocate in polite letters and martial arts, and Heze has become reputed as the land of martial arts, calligraphy and painting, and operas. In order to promote Heze to the world and enhance its profound ethnic culture, the city government organized the first International Peony Fair in 1992, optimizing the opportunity of Tour China '92. The festival has completed successfully for 7 years till 1998. Heze International Peony Fair upholds its purpose to make friends all over the world, promote opening-up, cultivate market, and achieve economic prosperity with the medium of peony flowers, and gives colorful cultural and economic programs that attract a great number of guests both from home and abroad. According to incomplete statistics, nearly 10,000,000 Chinese and foreign tourists have been received till now, among whom there are more than 300 leaders from the central government, ministries and committees, over 3,000 foreign visitors, and more than 200 Chinese and foreign reporters to cover the event. The spectacular opening ceremony and various meetings and negotiations on business and trade, with the stress on peony culture, show friends both at home and abroad the strong local customs and traditions, the excellent investment environment, and the beautiful future of the city. Heze enjoys convenient communications and transportations with 11 trunk highways all over the city, among which the premium highway from Dongping to Rizhao passes through in its north, and two railways of Beijing--Kowloon and Xinxiang--Shijiusuo intersect here.
Weifang International Kite Festival
Weifang is the hometown of kites in China. Around the solar term of Clear and Bright (about April 6) every year, the tradition of flying kites prevails among the locals. In 1930's, Weifang held three kite fairs. With the reform and opening-up in 1978, and in order to better promote Weifang and broaden its opening to the world, Shandong Tourism Bureau and Weifang Municipal Foreign Affairs Office sponsored to hold the first International Kite Festival from April 1 to 10, 1984, pioneering the thought of "One Form and Three Consolidations" which means that in order to accelerate its reform and opening-up, Weifang's international tourism and export-orientated economy shall be developed with the form of kite flying and with its economy, sports, and culture being considered together. Till now, Weifang International Kite Festival has been held successfully for 15 consecutive years, with its dates changed to April 20 to 25 at the ninth in 1992. The major events during the festival include opening ceremony, kite-flying performance, and grand competitions among Chinese and foreign kite-fliers. They attract delegations or teams from scores of countries or regions all over the world, and more than 20 provinces or municipalities over the country, together with nearly 1,000 foreign guests and more than 10,000 guests from other cities in China. In recent years, scores of reporters and hundreds of domestic reporters come to cover this event each year. The negotiations on business and trade are quite active, which forcefully promote the development of Weifang's tourism industry and its public facilities and services.
Rongcheng International Fishermen Festival
Rongcheng International Festival originated from the traditional solar term of Grain Rain (around April 21). As early as in the Spring and Autumn Period, local people began to trade in fish and salt. On Grain Rain every year, fishermen are getting busy again, fishing and harvesting on the sea for the whole year. To thank for the bountiness of the God of the Sea, wish to have full loads of fish and lobsters back home from the sea, and pray for the God's blessings to ward off misfortunes, local fishermen started the traditional rite of worshiping the God on that day. Since the reform and opening-up policy, people are getting rich, and beginning to give new ideas and thoughts into this Grain Rain Festival. Its original theme of worshiping the God for peace has changed into a lofty one wherein people enjoy themselves drinking, singing, dancing, and celebrating for the bumper harvest. Therefore, it plays an important role in the culture and entertainment of the fishermen in Rongcheng, and the city government decided to set up an international fishermen festival starting from 1991 in order to comply with the aspirations of local people and enhance their ethnic culture. Both the first and second festivals were held on the Grain Rain, lasting two days. Since the third one in 1993, they have changed to celebrate from July 24 to 28. After observing four consecutive festivals, they made it an event celebrated every three years, with the purpose of promoting cultural exchanges between home and abroad, developing economy, accelerating opening-up, and achieving mutual prosperity. 100,000 local residents, together with nearly 10,000 guests from China and the world, take part in the event. Press release, rites and ceremonies, theatrical performances, and tours and sightseeing are arranged; exhibitions of local specialties and premium products, and calligraphy and paintings are held; negotiations on business and trade are conducted. All this makes it a grand gala of the sea culture in China, highly received by guests both from home and abroad. |
