Seeking roots at Emperor Yan's Hometown

( chinadaily.com.cn )

Updated: 2014-05-27

On May 24, a festival for Chinese people seeking their roots at Emperor Yan-Shennong's hometown, and a ceremony of worshiping ancestors, were held in Suizhou city, Central China’s Hubei province.

The festival fell on the 26th day of the fourth month in the Chinese lunar year, which is considered to be the birthday of Shennong. The opening ceremony began at 8.08 am with the sound of music. The event has been successfully held five times since 2009, and the Suizhou Shennong worship ceremony has been listed in the third batch of national intangible cultural heritages.

Themed on "Sharing one world, achieving the Chinese Dream", this year's session was jointly organized by the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, Chinese Federation of Literary and Art Circles, China Yan Huang Culture Research Association and Hubei Provincial People's Government.

During the event, several activities were held, including a cross-Strait Shennong cultural forum, and a Yan Emperor Shennong culture temple fair, amongst other things.

(Reporter: Liu Kun; Correspondent: Zhang Cheng)