The 2018 Foshan Qiuse Parade was held at the Ancestral Temple and its surrounding historical and cultural blocks from Oct 31 to Nov 4, treating locals and visitors to distinctive performances and cultural heritage shows.

Qiuse , meaning "autumn color", is a traditional folklore activity in Foshan and a national intangible cultural heritage with a history of more than 600 years. Since 2010, Foshan Qiuse Parade has been held once a year in autumn and is widely loved by citizens. With Foshan Qiuse Parade as the main event, other activities this year featured the folk art and regional customs of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Pan-Pearl River Delta, including shows of intangible cultural heritage, parade performances and folk activities.

The activities mainly consisted of seven sections, including a live exhibition of intangible cultural heritage, the Autumn Festival of the Ancestral Temple, a Rural Drinking Ceremony, a cooperation dialogue on intangible cultural heritage, a Qiuse Competition, the Qiuse Parade and the Qiuse Big Stage.

Qiuse Parade

On the evening of Oct 31, six floats from the Foshan Qiuse lit up. As a classical part of the Qiuse Parade, in addition to the traditional floats that symbolize people's best wishes, designers also included the elements of "the 40th anniversary of reform and opening-up" and the "Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area". Forty-three exciting performances and six beautiful floats attracted a large audience.

The main venue of the parade opening ceremony was the Ancestral Temple Memorial Gateway Square, and the route of the parade stretched for 3.5 kilometers.

Audience interact with performers in the Qiuse parade. [Photo/Foshan China]

Audience interact with performers in the Qiuse parade. [Photo/Foshan China]

Live exhibition of intangible cultural heritage

This year's live exhibition of intangible cultural heritage invited intangible cultural heritage projects from the nine provinces of the Pan-Pearl River Delta region, Hong Kong and Macao. It is the first time the exhibition has introduced projects from outside of Guangdong province. Handicrafts were displayed during the festivities.

From Nov 1 to 4, 43 intangible cultural heritage projects were unveiled in Foshan Lingnan Tiandi. Among them, Hunan printing and dyeing technology, Hainan coconut carving and Sichuan Chengdu lacquer art are all state-level intangible cultural heritages.

Autumn Festival & Rural Drinking Ceremony

This year, the Autumn Festival and Rural Drinking Ceremony was held with all the traditional rituals, inviting overseas friends, overseas Chinese, people from Hong Kong and Macao, and representatives from various sectors of society to take part in the inheritance and dissemination of the blessing culture of the Northern Emperor at the Ancestral Temple.

Foreigners are invited to watch the Autumn Festival. [Photo/Foshan China]

Qiuse Competition

The 2018 Foshan Qiuse Competition began in March and had lasted for nearly eight months. It organized 17 intangible cultural heritage projects with more than 600 students. The award-winning students brought their own paper-cut, embroidery and other vivid traditional works to form a "Qiuse Competition" team and later appeared in the parade.

Qiuse Big Stage

 During the Intangible Cutural Heritage Week, excellent Qiuse Parade projects will be sent to the four districts of Foshan, Nanhai, Shunde, Gaoming and Sanshui, so that the residents can share in the joy of Qiuse.