More than 3,200 activities have been staged across China to celebrate this year's Cultural and Natural Heritage Day, which falls on the second Saturday of every June.
In the host city of Yan'an, a former revolutionary base of the Communist Party of China in northwestern Shaanxi province, a series of events was organized to celebrate the day.
The beauty of cultural relics depends on spirits inherited for generations, said Liu Yuzhu, head of the National Cultural Heritage Administration. Liu said revolutionary cultural relics constitute the source of power to inspire the Party and the people to stay true to the founding mission.
Other events were also launched across China to represent significant achievements of cultural relic protection at 4,296 national key cultural relic protection sites and 5,354 museums.
An intangible cultural heritage fair, which showcases 40 items on the List of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Intangible Cultural Heritage, started in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou from June 7.
It applies exhibitions, shows, lectures and forums to present the vivid practice of intangible cultural heritage protection and development in China.
A poetry recital was held in the National Library of China (NLC) on June 6, marking the beginning of the NLC's lecture month on the protection of intangible cultural heritage in 2019.
Friday was this year's traditional Dragon Boat Festival. The rich variety of festival activities have become a major theme of this year's cultural and natural heritage day in Zigui county in Central China's Hubei province, the hometown of great poet Qu Yuan, with activities such as dragon boat races.
Aiming to raise the public's cultural confidence and awareness, the "open course on intangible cultural heritage," an educational television show that invites experts to tell stories about the inheritance of intangible cultural heritage, was broadcast on Friday evening.
An exhibition onguqin,the Chinese zither, a Kunqu Opera performance and a photo exhibition of intangible cultural heritage are also scheduled.
Since 2006, China has celebrated cultural heritage day on the second Saturday of June. In 2017, it was renamed Cultural and Natural Heritage Day.