A temple fair where culture is center stage

Spring Festival and its associated social practices were inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on Dec 4, and this year's fair is an amalgamation of Spring Festival traditions from around China.

"This is the first Ditan Park Temple Fair following the listing. We have not only gathered specialties from across the country, but also intangible cultural heritage elements and crafts," says Xu Ze, spokesperson for the fair, and deputy Party secretary of Dongcheng Cultural Tourism Group.

"We hope that when strolling through the fair, visitors can appreciate intangible cultural heritage. The popularity of performing arts around the fair proved that visitors have a deep recognition of Chinese culture."

The fair in Dongcheng district had four stages, including one that presented festive performing folk arts from different regions, such as lion dancing from Hebei province, drum and gong performances from Shanxi province, and stilt walking from Liaoning province.