LINFEN, China (Special to The Star) — The 2025 Yao Culture Tourism Festival kicked off at Jiuzhou Square in Yaodu District, Linfen, on the evening of Sept. 24, welcoming visitors worldwide to the ancient city of Pingyang for a cultural gathering rooted in 4,300 years of history.
Local and provincial officials joined the opening, including Zhang Zhichuan (Vice Director of Shanxi’s People’s Congress Standing Committee), Yan Chenxi (Vice Chairman of Shanxi’s CPPCC), Li Yunfeng (Linfen’s Party Secretary), and Wang Yanfeng (Linfen’s Mayor). Zhang Runze, Linfen’s Party Standing Committee Member and Secretary-General, hosted the ceremony and spoke to attendees.
In his address, Zhang highlighted Linfen’s rich heritage—once called Pingyang, it is a key cradle of Chinese civilization. He noted recent milestones: three 5A-rated scenic spots secured in five years, 12 ancient building complexes opened to the public, and the launch of museums dedicated to Linfen’s history, the Jin State, and the Taosi Ruins, plus the official designation of Taosi as a national archaeological park.
Now in its seventh year (previously named Yaodu Culture Tourism Festival), the event has become a signature for Linfen, driving cultural exchange, boosting the economy, and raising the city’s profile. This year’s festival goes further by integrating Yao culture resources citywide, promising more focused impact, lower costs, and wider reach. Zhang said it would offer a feast of tradition and modernity for visitors and locals, serve as a platform for cultural displays, industry collaboration, and tourism integration, and contribute to preserving Chinese traditional culture while advancing Linfen’s modernization.
A first for the festival: it is co-hosted by Yaodu District, Puxian County, and Xiangfen County. This partnership ties together Emperor Yao’s “birthplace,” “talent-seeking site,” and “capital,” telling the full story of Yao culture from its origins to its heyday. It also marks a new approach to organizing cultural events, helping unlock Yao culture’s relevance today.
Ten themed activities will run through the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays, each tailored to the three regions’ cultural identities. Highlights include investment promotion events, the “Yao King Cup” public Go exhibition, Yao culture programs in schools, the 2025 Pu Opera Art Week, expert lectures at the “Yaofeng Lecture Hall,” a “Ode to Yao—Let the World Hear Linfen” recital, drum performances, and exchanges on Yao culture’s “drum music roots.”
The opening ceremony closed with a gala centered on Yao culture, themed “Light Shines Everywhere · Virtue Illuminates Millennia.” Guided by the motif of “light,” the show unfolded in four chapters—spanning drum music, nature, civilization inheritance, and global harmony—creating a vivid, sweeping journey through 5,000 years of history for the audience.
