Diverse, colorful activities were held in many cities across China to mark the 33rd World Environmental Day, which fell on Saturday.

In China's capital of Beijing, young people attended a ceremony on environmental protection sponsored jointly by the Song Ching-Ling Foundation and the State Environmental Protection Administration.

The ceremony, with the theme of "I love China, I love Sea.", is aimed at increasing young people's awareness of protecting marine environment.

Yu Guilin, vice-chairman of the Song Ching-Ling Foundation, said the education in marine protection should be conducted among children and young people. And they should be aroused to contribute their share to marine protection and exert an influence on other social strata with their concrete deeds.

In Dalian, northeast China, approximately 1,000 environmental protection volunteers held a rally at the Zhongshan Square to observe the World Environmental Day. Students from a dozen of colleges and universities gave performances and delivered speeches on environmental protection at the square, which were bedecked with picture boards and posters.

Under the slogan of "Public involvement in environmental protection", leading officials of numerous city departments in Dalian attended today's activities in the capacity of volunteers instead of government officials.

Residents of Nanjing, the provincial capital and an ancient city in east China's Jiangsu Province, converged on Beijing Square Saturday to publicize the concept of "leading a green life, and building an eco-environmental homeland."

Though Nanjing is not seaside city, it is traversed by the mighty Yangtze, China's longest river. He Jing, a representative of the Xuanwu District, read out at the rally a proposal on half of his fellow residents in the district, calling on all city residents to treasure every drop of water and strive to alleviate water pollution.

And in Beijing, an environmental protection group began to issue one million pamphlets on conservation know-how to the public on Saturday, which is World Environment Day (WED).

The pamphlets tell people simple methods to save water, recycle resources and improve their environment at home and in office, like reusing water after washing rice, chopsticks and bowls.

"Every one of us is changing the earth's environment with our own consumption behavior and lifestyle," said an official with the China Environmental Culture Promotion Agency.

"Cases listed in the pamphlets all look like trivial matters, but they are the very basis for fostering environmentally-friendly ways of life in the whole society," the official said.

He said that through promoting these small things, more people will be attracted to the environmental protection ranks.

(Xinhua News Agency June 6, 2004)