The Tan family's ancestral hall in Luocheng town affiliated with Luoding, built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), has now become a gathering place where nearby villagers like to go for fun and cultural activities.

The elderly gather together in the front room of the hall, to either play Chinese chess or mahjong. Fans of Guangdong Opera sit in rows of bamboo chairs and listen to their fellow villagers singing.

The two rear rooms of the hall house a small library and a display of Chinese painting and the calligraphy works of villagers.

"The ancestral hall provides a good place for carrying out cultural activities and strengthening the relationship between villagers," said Tan Jinxing, who first thought of using the hall in 1996 and has managed the place since.

Compared with many other ancestral halls in villages, this hall is contributing more to improving people's lives.

"With some money in hand, some villagers in my hometown in Anhui Province in East China spent it on reconstructing the ancestral halls and worshiping their ancestors again, instead of investing the money in more meaningful things," said a visitor at the scene.

Developing cultural activities in rural areas has been an emphasis of the culture department's work in recent years.

In addition to strong financial support for cultural activities, the municipal government has organized forums in the field to exchange good experiences, a local official said.

Thanks to the forums, the Tan family's ancestral hall has soon become a model that some other villages in Luoding learn from.

Another town's plan to develop cultural resources has been noticed by neighboring areas.

In the town of Fucheng in Luoding, a membership system was adopted by the town's cultural center to attract nearby villagers to join cultural activities.

An annual membership fee of 30 yuan (US$3.61) allows a person to participate its activities, such as watching movies, reading books at libraries, singing karaoke or playing table tennis.

"It is acceptable and worthwhile," said Lu Caiwang, a villager.

(China Daily July 2, 2002)