Wudang Mountain hosts 9th Chinese Art Festival in May

The Ninth Chinese Photographic Art Festival will be held in Hubei Wudang Mountain in May.

The festival will highlight environmental protection, harmonious beauty and cultural sharing. On May 23-26, first-class Chinese and foreign photographers will gather.

Photographic activities such as the Jinxiang Forum and media conference with a cultural taste and academic value will be featured.

Photographic exhibitions will be unveiled such as the "exhibition of Chinese photography gold medal outstanding works", "international photography festival" and the "national photography festival".

"A creative journey of drinking from the source— South-to-North Water Diversion Project (middle route) National Photography Festival" launched by the organizing committee will focus on its ecological engineering project.

The opening ceremony will show Wudang culture to provide creative routes for photographers.

Additionally, the Ninth Chinese photography Jinxiang Awards Ceremony, the highest award for individual photographic achievement in the country, will be televised. The festival calls for society to drive development and show respect for life.

The China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the CPC Hubei provincial Party committee publicity department and Chinese Photographers Association is are jointly sponsoring the event, which will be undertaken by the CPC Shiyan municipal Party committee publicity department and Wudang Mountain Administrative Committee and co-organized by the Hubei Photographers Association and the Taijihu Group.

The opening ceremony will be held in Wudang Culture Square to include local martial arts performances, drum performances, folk arts activities and performances, fireworks, Taoist rituals, tea ceremonies, Taoist music performances, folklore performances, large-scale pilgrimages and much more.

Wudang Mountain, also known as Taihe Mountain, is located in Shiyan, Hubei province, which is east of the historic city of Xiangfan, west of Shiyan, facing the Danjiangkou Reservoir, the water source of the middle route of South-to-North Water Diversion Project and in the middle of the primitive Shennongjia Forest.

The mountain has transformed into a cultural heritage site, a scenic spot where many Taoist shrines, the birthplace of Tai Chi is located. The national geological park enjoys a reputation for "unparalleled mountains" since ancient times.

The Wudang Mountain special area is seizing opportunities brought about by the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, eco-cultural tourism circle in western Hubei and preferential municipal urban development policies.

Wudang Mountain is rated as a national 5A scenic spot by the National Tourism Administration and won an honorary title, "visitors' favorite top ten tourist attractions" in the country.

Edited by Fu Bo and Tom McGregor