NYC Times Square broadcasts the Dujiangyan Festival live

？ [Photo from china.com.cn]

？ [Photo from china.com.cn]

The opening ceremony of the 2015 China-Dujiangyan Qingming Water Releasing Festival was broadcast live on？an advertisement screen in the Times Square, New York City, on Apr 5.

Water Releasing Festival in Dujiangyan, Sichuan province is a 1,000-year-old Chinese cultural tradition held annually to commemorate Li Bing (302-235BC), the designer of the Dujiangyan Irrigation System. The Festival also aims to raise public awareness for the nature.

The 2015 festival attracted a large number of overseas tourists. Some tourists who love Dujiangyan posted festival pictures on the social media, publicizing the city.

The festival brought back to life the vivid scenes of 2,000 years ago, staging how workers at the time used bamboos, bamboo cages, scree and clays to repair Dujiangyan. Upon receiving instructions from an official, workers cut with full force the wood tripod dam to let the water flow into the Chengdu plain.

In the event of sacrificial ritual, a presenter read an ode while Li Bing's stone statue rose slowly from behind the sacrificial altar, and worshipers kneeled down to express their thanks to Li Bing for his contributions.

"The magnificent sight makes me feel like I was in that society dating back to several thousand years ago", said Mr. Ding, a visitor from Shanghai.

Furthermore, a group of people standing on the riverbank of Min River, which springs out in north-central Sichuan, had their role as the guards of Dujiangyan.There was also a parade dressed up as pandas at the square near Dujiangyan South Bridge.

An official of Dujiangyan Scenic Spot Administration said that Dujiangyan is striving to become an international tourism city. It holds various events including the Water Releasing Festival to publicize its image as a colorful and attractive tourism destination. To enrich visitors' travel experience, it also launched several dozens of tour packages that ensure visits to world cultural heritage sites, panda sanctuaries and beautiful landscapes.

Dujiangyan sees tourism as its pillar industry. It received a total of more than 20 million tourists in 2014. It has drawn up a 15-year plan to grow into an international tourism city.