Scholar urges to internationalize Qingming Festival

Among the 501 festivals with higher participation all over the world, only 17 are Chinese festivals, therefore, Chinese people should cherish and protect their own festivals, said Wu Yasheng, associate dean of College of Art Design, Shanghai University of Engineering Science.

Of the hundreds of festivals around the world, few nations have such a festival in memory of the history and the ancestors, other than the Qingming Festival of the Chinese nation, which is more unique than the Dragon Boat Festival and worthy of the pride of the Chinese people. But compared with other countries, such traditional Chinese festivals as the Qingming Festival have not been fully modernized or internationalized, said Wu.

Wu takes the United States as an example: with a large number of festival and cultural resources, each of its national festival is highly internationalized. The festival activities in the New York Times Square catch attention from around the world; the lighting ceremony in the New Year attracts hundreds of tourist groups from various countries; and the crystal ball as well as the countdown has become international cultural symbols.

The festival events in other regions of the world are also creatively designed. For instance, the Bull-running Festival organized in the southern European town attracts millions of tourists every year by its reputation promoted by global information distribution although the street for bull running is only 800 meters long.

"In the Qingming Festival, we should not confine ourselves to family history worship, or just enjoy green cakes or vegetable rolls. We need to have the substance and essence of history and ancestor worship publicized or spread internationally," said Wu.