The much-anticipated National Intangible Cultural Heritage Quyi Week kicked off on Sep 6 in Jinan, capital city of Shandong province.

Quyi is a traditional Chinese art form spanning a variety of categories, such as ballad singing, storytelling, comic dialogue, and Chinese crosstalk.

Jointly organized by the intangible cultural heritage department and the art department under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Shandong provincial department of culture and tourism, and the Jinan municipal government, the event will last for five days.

Li Jinzao, vice-minister of culture and tourism, said that quyi is an important category in the country's intangible cultural heritages.

Li said that among the 1,372 national-level intangible cultural heritage items announced by the State Council, 127 are quyi art forms. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has appointed 207 national-level representative inheritors of the quyi folk arts.

He noted that this is the second edition of the event, which provides a stage for the inheritors of Chinese folk art, as well as a platform for them to learn and communicate with each other.

Yu Jie, vice governor of Shandong province, said that during the event, folk artists of intangible cultural heritages will gather in Shandong province to perform, conduct exchanges, and learn from each other. Shandong will take this opportunity to raise public awareness on intangible cultural heritage protection and achieve innovative development of traditional Chinese culture.

This year's edition will present 131 quyi categories from across the country, of which 60 are at the national-level and 34 are at the provincial-level.

A total of 492 folk artists from all over the country will stage performances in Jinan's theaters, residential areas, and schools, reaching out for more participants and helping inform the public about the traditional art forms.

Folk artists stage a performance at the opening ceremony of the 2019 National Intangible Cultural Heritage Quyi Week on Sep 6 in Jinan, Shandong province. [Photo/cnr.cn]

Folk artists perform at the opening ceremony of the 2019 National Intangible Cultural Heritage Quyi Week on Sep 6 in Jinan, Shandong province. [Photo/cnr.cn]

Folk artists stage a performance in Wulongtan Park in Jinan, Shandong province on Sept 6. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]