A Sichuan opera performer spits fire during
the 1st International Festival of the Intangible Cultural Heritage
in Chengdu, the capital of southwestern China's Sichuan province,
on Wednesday, May 23, 2007.
Ran Fan, a 61-year-old pensioner from Dujiangyan, got up at 5am
Wednesday morning to take a bus to Chengdu, the capital of
southwestern China's Sichuan province, to catch the opening
ceremony of the International Festival of the Intangible Cultural
Heritage, which started at 8:30am.
"I learned from the media about two weeks ago that the opening
ceremony will be followed by a parade of singers and dancers from
different parts of the country," said Ran, a former high school art
teacher.
He was one of some 10,000 spectators who participated in
Wednesday morning's parade held along Shuncheng Street in downtown
Chengdu.
Following the speeches by local and regional officials praising
the achievements made by Chengdu and China in protecting its
intangible cultural heritage, the one-hour parade started with a
performance of the Imposing Gong and Drum troupe from northern
China's Shanxi province.
The deafening sound from gong and drum beating drew applause and
yelling from excited spectators.
Hailed as the best in the country, the Imposing Gong and Drum
from Shanxi has performed in many domestic and international events
since the 1980s.
Singers and dancers from Romania, South Korea, Russia, Africa,
Brazil and Mexico, followed, along with performances from the
Tibetan and Qiang ethnic groups of China, acrobats from eastern
China's Jiangsu province, Shaolin Buddhist monks demonstrated
martial arts, and Sichuan opera performers breathing fire and
dragon dance performers from Sichuan debuted in procession.
"Both their performances and traditional costumes were marvelous
and wonderful to see," commented Ran. "I knew many sites on the
World Heritage List, but I did not know what the intangible
cultural heritage was. I learned a lot about it from the parade,"
Ran said.
Many spectators mistook all the performers for professionals
because of their wonderful performances. But Qiang Ba, a
middle-aged Tibetan who led a group of dancers from Qamdo, Tibet,
said: "All the dancers are farmers at home and have rehearsed
together for two months."
The performances not only drew locals like Ran but also Tang
Rongmei, a 67-year-old American professor teaching in the Guangya
School in Chengdu and she brought 15 students with her.
Tang, an educator who graduated from Columbia University with
several degrees in education and education-related fields, is
teaching English to a group of rural women teachers from different
parts of Sichuan.
Tang, who visited the Shaolin Temple in 1999 with some American
high school students, liked the martial arts performed by the monks
the most.
"To me, the Shaolin martial arts show what life should be -
energetic and concentrated," she said.
"None of my students knew about the opening ceremony or the
parade before I told them the day before. But they were all were
excited to see the performances and kept taking pictures," Tang
explained. "One said that she had never seen anything so grand in
her life."
?
The 19-day International Festival of the Intangible Cultural
Heritage, approved by the State Council, sponsored by the Ministry
of Culture and Sichuan Provincial Government, and organized by the
Chengdu Municipal Government, the Sichuan Provincial Department of
Culture and the China National Center of Intangible Cultural
Heritage Protection, is aimed at furthering China's efforts in
protecting its intangible cultural heritage and enhancing its
global influence in the field, said Ding Wei, Assistant to the
Minister of Culture.
The reason why Chengdu was chosen as the location for hosting
the event is because of its status as one of China's historically
and culturally famous cities and for its efforts to protect and
develop cultural heritage, he said.
"Chengdu is the only Chinese city which has never changed its
name or site for more than 2,000 years," Ding said. "This fact
alone can justify the decision to choose Chengdu as the venue for
the festival."
According to Deng Gongli, deputy secretary-general of the
Chengdu Municipal Government, a total of 32 groups of singers and
dancers from Europe, Africa, America and Asia participated in the
parade. The festival drew some 520 people from 52 countries around
the world.
Wednesday's parade was the China debut of the Roundabout Samba
from Brazil, said Deng, who added the singers and performers will
also perform in another eight venues in parks and squares in
Chengdu and ancient towns in the suburbs.
May 23 also marked the formal opening of the Exposition of the
International Festival of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in the
National Intangible Cultural Heritage Park located in the city's
Jinniu District.
With 80 halls, the Exposition will display more than 1,000
domestic and overseas intangible cultural heritage items from May
23 to June 10 with free admission. Deng said that folk artisans
will display their work.
Muqam, a traditional performance of the Xinjiang Uygur
Autonomous Region, can be seen in the Exposition.
Combining music, dance, singing and poetry, Muqam is on the List
of the Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
"It will be the first time that Muqam makes its debut outside of
Xinjiang," said Zhu Shuxi, chief of the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of
Culture.
He added that the famous Xiaoxiang Lion Dance would also be
performed in the Exposition.
The dance, which has its origins in Xiaoxiang Village in Gongyi,
central China's Henan province, has a history of more than 400
years and is likely to be performed at the opening ceremony of the
2008 Beijing Olympics.
Nearly 70 performers will show their stunts of climbing to the
top of poles more than 10 meters high while dressed and dancing
like lions.
Opera lovers will also have the rare opportunity to appreciate
the Chuankun Opera in the Auditorium of the Sichuan Opera School
Thursday and Friday evening because not many people have continued
practicing this art form.
Performers from Sichuan and neighboring Chongqing Municipality
will put on 10 classical plays of the Chuankun Opera, such as,
"Stealing the Peach" and "Falling from the Horse."
With a history of 600 years, the Kunqu Opera, which is on the
UNESCO's List of Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage List, is
referred to as the "ancestor of all operas" in China.
Sichuan Opera was developed during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911),
based on five local operas including the Kunqu Opera. The Chuankun
Opera is a branch of the Kunqu Opera in Sichuan, Zhu said.
(China Daily May 24, 2007)
