More than 5,000 people from 16 countries and regions, including

the United States, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan, attended the

opening ceremony.

Zhou Qi, mayor of Jining City, said the current festival is to

provide a series of colorful and distinctive cultural programs,

academic exchanges and opportunities for economic and trade

cooperation.

During the festival, which runs from September 26 to October 10,

sacrificial rites will be staged every day in front of the

Confucius Temple.

Confucius (551 B.C.- 479 B.C.) is regarded as a great thinker

and educator in the Chinese history. Confucianism, the school of

thought that developed from his ideas, has had great influence on China's political, cultural and social environment for thousands of years.

The Cultural Festival, which started in 1984, has been

recommended by the National Tourism Administration.

(Xinhua)