The National Intangible Cultural Heritage Quyi Week kicked off on Oct 10 in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province, local media reported.

Quyi is a traditional Chinese art form involving a variety of categories, including ballad singing, storytelling, comic dialogues, and Chinese crosstalk.

Li Qun, vice-minister of culture and tourism, said that the intangible cultural heritage label is important for preserving and passing on traditional Chinese culture.

Quyi is a particularly important Chinese intangible cultural heritage item and is admired by many Chinese people, he added

He said he expected the event to serve as a platform for quyi practitioners to showcase their skills and for workers, experts, and scholars involved with quyi to communicate and learn from each other.

He expressed hope that the event would demonstrate the success of quyi preservation efforts in China in recent years and further promote the protection of Chinese folk art.

A total of 258 quyi programs totaling around 8,000 hours of runtime will be shown online and more than 70 folk artists from seven provinces will perform live during the six-day event, which will run from Oct 9 to14.

According to the organizing committee, there will be eight types of offline activities, including over 30 performances in Ningbo's residential communities, schools, scenic areas, and hotels.