Add Longhua Temple fair to May Day holiday schedule
The Longhua Temple Fair always attracts large crowds.
If you're looking for something folk and traditional to do around the May Day holiday, there's no better location than Longhua in Shanghai's Xuhui District, where a temple fair opened on Monday.
Shanghai Longhua Temple Fair is a well-known folk custom and intangible cultural heritage event in the Yangtze River Delta region and around the country.
On Monday, an intangible cultural feast opened at Longhua Plaza to celebrate the temple fair, with lovely melodies of symphony and string quartet, as well as Chinese folk music with an East-meets-West approach.
The temple fair, which dates back to the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), is Shanghai's largest temple fair and a national intangible cultural heritage site.
A booth at the fair
This year's temple fair will take place in many locations, including Longhua Plaza, LONGHUAHUI, a new commercial complex near the temple, Shanghai Duoyunxuan Art Center, and Zhou Xinfang Art Space.
As is customary, there will be an appreciation for peach blossoms and performances of Jiangnan sizhu (string and wind music).
The market will include the city's intangible cultural heritage treasures, such as Qiaojiashan snacks, enamelware, pankou (frog fastener), sachets, papercuts, Chongming tubu (homespun cloth), and jade carving.
Inheritors of intangible cultural assets from other cities will demonstrate their distinctive techniques at the fair.
Chuzhou City of Anhui Province will also showcase traditional Chinese opera performances and specialties like Chahe beef and Leiguanbanya, or "flat duck."
People can also learn about calligraphy and view an exhibition. The Zhou Xinfang Art Space will host a Peking Opera performance.
The fair will distribute coupons for consumption.
Traditional Chinese opera performance at the temple fair
If you go:
Date: 9:30am-7:30pm, through May 5
Venue: Longhua Plaza and nearby area, Xuhui District 徐汇龙华广场及周边区域
The temple fair features traditional Chinese elements.
Traditional ritual marking the opening of the event
