Festival promotes protection of intangible cultural riches

　　The exposition will also feature Muqam, a traditional performance from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Prefecture.

　　Muqam, which combines music, dance, singing and poetry, is on UNESCO's Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

　　"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 disclosed that the famous Xiaoxiang Lion Dance will also be performed in the exposition. The dance, which has its origins in Xiaoxiang Village in Gongyi, in 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 display their stunts of climbing to the tops of poles that are over 10 m high, and dancing like lions.

　　Cultural awareness

　　According to Ding, Chengdu was chosen to host the festival because of its position as one of China's most historically and culturally famous cities and its efforts to protect and develop cultural heritage.

　　Attaching great importance to intangible cultural heritage protection and conservation, the Chengdu municipal government has established many programs and initiatives involving surveys on intangible cultural heritage items and their protection.

　　The city's Dujiangyan Water Discharge Festival, Shu Brocade, Shu Embroidery and Chengdu Lacquer were the first on the list for the protection of representations of China's national intangible cultural heritage, said Chengdu Vice Mayor He Huazhang.

　　Last November, Chengdu announced its first list of 41 items of municipal-level intangible cultural heritage, while this February Sichuan Province also released its list of provincial-level intangible cultural heritage items.

　　That included 10 categories and 189 items, of which 26 are from Chengdu, the vice mayor said.

　　He added this year Chengdu founded an intangible cultural heritage protection center and the China Intangible Cultural Heritage Institute will be formally launched in the city on June 10.(By Huang Zhiling and Cheng Shangxuan )