China's 6th national poem festival to open in Nov

The 6th edition of China's national poem festival will take place in Chengdu, Sichuan province, and Chongqing from Nov 1 to Nov 7, according to a news conference of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Wednesday.

The event, also the first national-level cultural festival to be held offline since the outbreak of COVID-19 in China, includes stage performances, poetry reading clubs, academic seminars, as well as various activities promoting poetry and fine traditional Chinese culture at local schools, shopping malls, bookstores and residential communities.

For the upcoming festival, poets and artists are also encouraged to create new works hailing people's strong spirit during the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Several visitation routes are also recommended by tourism administrations for poetry fans interested in pilgrimages to honor ancient poetry masters.

For example, during the Tang Dynasty (618-907), a zenith of ancient Chinese poetry, Li Bai and Du Fu, the two greatest poets of that time, once wrote many household stanzas on and in the cities of Chengdu and Chongqing, and numerous forms of historical heritage witnessing their footsteps still remain today. Many sites in the two cities were also mentioned by a plethora of other poets throughout Chinese history.

Chengdu will host the opening ceremony of the festival, and Chongqing will host the closing ceremony.

A national poem festival has been held every three years in China since 2005.