Shaolin Temple Raises National Flag for First Time

Monks standing in a line watch the flag-raising ceremony in Shaolin temple on Songshan mountain in Central China's Henan province on Aug 27, 2018.

Holding the national flag, monks march toward the flag pole during a flag-raising ceremony in Shaolin temple on Songshan mountain in Central China's Henan province on Aug 27, 2018.

The flag-raising ceremony, the first in the temple in more than 1,500 years, helps the religious circles and believers to enhance national and civic consciousness and consolidate the sense of the Chinese nation community, according to sources from the temple.

Foreign believers were also present to witness the ceremony.