North China's Gaoping launches 8th cross-Strait exchange events on culture of Emperor Yan

The 8th cross-Strait exchange activities featuring the culture of Emperor Yan, a legendary ancestor of the Chinese nation, are officially launched at a press conference in Beijing, Apirl 27, 2023. (Photo/People's Daily Online)

The 2023 cross-Strait ceremony to worship Emperor Yan, a legendary ancestor of the Chinese nation, will be held at the mausoleum of Emperor Yan in Gaoping city, north China's Shanxi Province, on May 26, according to a press conference on Thursday.

The press conference officially launched the 8th cross-Strait exchange events on the culture of Emperor Yan. These events are aimed at promoting exchanges between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait on the economy, trade, culture, tourism and investments.

Officials invited all people of Chinese descent to take part in the annual cross-Strait ceremony to worship Emperor Yan in Gaoping.

Gaoping, a county-level city administered by Jincheng city, is known as the hometown of Emperor Yan. It is referred to as "the place with the richest resources of the culture of Emperor Yan" by many scholars, and considered the cradle of the Chinese agricultural civilization and traditional Chinese medicine.

Gaoping has vigorously tapped into, inherited, and promoted the culture of Emperor Yan, and successfully held the cross-Strait exchange activities featuring the culture of Emperor Yan for seven consecutive years.

The event has enjoyed an increasingly high organizational level, influence, and popularity, becoming an important platform for enhancing cultural identity and facilitating exchanges and cooperation between people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

The 8th edition of the event will span 50 days until May 31, according to officials at the press conference, who disclosed that relevant activities began on April 12.

Aside from the grand folk worshiping ceremony, the event will also include other support events, such as a high-level forum on Chinese farming culture started by Emperor Yan and agricultural sci-tech innovation, a forum on the innovative development of intelligent manufacturing, a symposium on exchanges and cooperation between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait on the economy, trade, and culture, a pear blossom festival, a trade fair of featured food from Jincheng and Taiwan, a marathon, and a conference on traditional poetry.

The activities designed for the 8th cross-Strait exchange activities will further highlight cross-Strait exchanges, cultural inheritance, promotion of the national spirit, project cooperation, and public participation, said Yuan Jian, Party chief of Gaoping.

More than 1,000 Chinese people, including Taiwan citizens and business people, experts, scholars, and youth representatives, are expected to pay homage to Emperor Yan and take part in various events in Gaoping, according to Yuan, who noted that more than 10,000 people from various parts of the world will participate in relevant activities in person.

An online platform to worship Emperor Yan was also launched at the press conference to allow more people to embark on a virtual "root-seeking tour.”