Cao Zhen

    caozhen0806@126.com

    AS part of the annual Creative December, which has been running since 2005, Shenzhen’s 8th Hakka Culture Festival is being held through Dec. 21. It features a mixture of Hakka performances and exhibitions.

    At the festival’s opening ceremony outside the Shenzhen Museum in Civic Center on Sunday afternoon, Hakka people and local folk artists performed kirin dances and lion dances, sang Hakka songs, and demonstrated snack-making, shadow plays, paper-cutting, hat-knitting and other handicrafts.

    The most talked-about activity at the opening was how all the artists stood still for five minutes every half an hour to create a living piece of performance art. Visitors took photos of the activities and participated in a photo competition organized by the museum. Ye Yang, head of the Shenzhen Museum, said that, in the past, when they held Hakka culture festivals, youngsters were not very interested, so this year, they blended modern elements into the festival.

    Meanwhile, an exhibition of traditional Hakka architecture models, interior designs, furniture and paintings of Hakka life and culture opened Tuesday at the Shenzhen Museum’s other outlet on Tongxin Road, which ends Jan. 15.

    At the closing of the festival, a free concert featuring Hakka songs and dances will be held at 3 p.m. on Dec. 21 at the Shenzhen Museum’s Civic Center outlet’s main hall. Photos from the competition will be on display.

    Hakka people have links to the areas of Guangdong, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan and Fujian. Hakka culture is an important part of southern Chinese culture.