A cultural gala named the Eryueer Dragon Dance Conference and the Fifth Intangible Cultural Heritage Expo of Rizhao - the closing ceremony of the Shandong intangible cultural heritage month - were held in Juguo ancient town, Rizhao city of Shandong province, on Feb 21, the day known as the Longtaitou Festival, or Eryueer Festival, which means "dragon raises head" in Chinese.

People celebrate Longtaitou Festival in Juguo ancient town, Rizhao city of Shandong province, on Feb 21. [Photo/WeChat account: sdswltwx]

From Jan 14 to Feb 21, the intangible cultural heritage month was themed with "inheriting colorful intangible cultural heritages and sharing a better life" and covered more than 1,100 performances, exhibitions and activities, which enriched the spiritual and cultural life of the people and boosted consumption.

About 21,000 people participated in the closing ceremony, generating a revenue of some 1 million yuan ($144,400). The event held folk activities such as dragon and lion dances, running dry boats, haircuts, playing with flower sticks and cooking fried jelly beans as well as intangible cultural heritages such as clay pottery.

It had five major exhibition areas including the picture display of Shandong's protection of intangible cultural heritages and more than 100 intangible cultural heritage products such as Rizhao black pottery, small wooden boats, Luban stools, eggshell carvings, tiger head fabrics and organic tea.

The event was broadcast live online and attracted four million viewers.