The 35th Guan Gong Cultural Tourism Festival kicked off on Monday in Guan Gong's hometown of Yuncheng city, Shanxi province. [Photo by Zhu Xingxin/chinadaily.com.cn]

The 35th Guan Gong Cultural Tourism Festival kicked off on Monday in Guan Gong's hometown of Yuncheng city, Shanxi province, attracting over 1,000 domestic and international devotees.

The three-day event aims to pass on the culture of Guan Gong and promote national spirit.

In Chinese folklore, Guan Yu, a general from the late Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220), also known as Guan Gong or Guan Di, stands as a revered figure and a superhero in the eyes of the Chinese people.

Around 30,000 Guan Gong temples are spread across approximately 168 countries and regions worldwide.

"Yuncheng will take the festival as a new starting point to promote the integrated development of culture and tourism," Wang Ligang, the city's deputy Party secretary, said at the opening ceremony. "We will continue to optimize cultural services and the supply mechanism of cultural products, aiming to develop the cultural tourism industry into a strategic pillar industry and a source of happiness for residents."

The 35th Guan Gong Cultural Tourism Festival kicked off on Monday in Guan Gong's hometown of Yuncheng city, Shanxi province. [Photo by Zhu Xingxin/chinadaily.com.cn]

After the opening ceremony, devotees paid tribute at the Guan Gong Temple in Haizhou township, which has a history of over 1,400 years.

"I have been influenced by the culture of Guan Gong since I was young, and I come to worship the ancestral temple at least twice a year," said Wu Dongdong, a devotee from Quanzhou city, Fujian province. "The qualities of loyalty and integrity displayed by Guan Gong have had a major impact on my life."

A Guan Gong culture-themed symposium was held on Monday afternoon.

"Guan Gong embodies various excellent moral qualities," said Wang Juan, a professor from the Chinese Department of Peking University. "The devotees, domestic and abroad, who advocate Guan Gong's beliefs provide possibilities for dialogue, exchange and integration among various social strata."

Fu Wenyuan, director of the Haizhou Guandi Temple Cultural Relics Protection Institute said: "We will collaborate with relevant departments to accelerate the application for the declaration of Guan Sheng Cultural Sites as World Intangible Cultural Heritage."

"Furthermore, we are striving to develop Yuncheng into a research center for Guan Gong culture, a pilgrimage site for the spirit of Guan Gong and a cultural tourism destination for the loyalty and righteousness of Guan Gong," said Fu.