The 2013 China (Zhangjiagang) Yangtze River Culture and Arts Festival will take place soon. A six-part series report about the festival will be shown as a retrospective of its achievements in sharing and exchanging cultural resources in the last decade.

In 2004, when Shen Lierong, vice-president of the Chongqing Literary Federation and president of the Chongqing Drama Association, first brought Chongqing’s drama performers to participate in the festival, he was afraid that people in Zhangjiagang could not understand Sichuan Opera in the Chongqing dialect. However, it turned out to be a great success, making him more hopeful about Sichuan Opera’s future. After that, the Chongqing Drama Association gave performances during the festival each year, including the operas Jinzi and Mingfeng as well as the play Immigrant Jin Dahua.

To date, about 51 dramas and 96 folk custom programs have been performed during the Yangtze River Dramatic Arts Festival and the National and Folk Arts Festival. Citizens in Zhangjiagang can enjoy a wide range of live performances to better appreciate cultural diversity. The festival also demonstrates the uniqueness of Yangtze River culture through various activities, such as writing essays, taking photos or singing songs in praise of the Yangtze River.

The Yangtze River Culture and Arts Festival has proven to be a good platform for culture exchange in dramatic, national and folk arts from the different areas along the Yangtze River. People have attached greater importance to traditional culture inheritance and promotion, and more quality local cultural products are being produced. It has helped spread, integrate and utilize Yangtze River cultural resources, and has helped Zhangjiagang become a representative city of Yangtze River culture.