The 2026 Guan Gong Cultural Tourism Festival kicks off in Dangyang, Hubei, where compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait share their blood ties.

China News Service, Dangyang, Hubei, September 27 (Reporters Guo Xiaoying and Dong Xiaobin) The 2026 Guan Gong Cultural Tourism Festival kicked off in Dangyang, Hubei on the 27th. The Dangyang Guanling Temple Fair and the Guan Gong Worship Ceremony on both sides of the Taiwan Strait (Hubei) were held simultaneously. Representatives of Guan temples at home and abroad and compatriots from both sides of the Taiwan Strait gathered in Guan Ling to express the blood ties and friendship between compatriots.

On that day, the ceremony of worshiping Guan Gong followed the ancient etiquette regulations and completed the rituals of presenting flowers, presenting dances, presenting offerings, and reading blessings. The bells and drums are ringing in harmony, the eight hundred dancers are dancing with their feathers, their wide sleeves are fluttering, and the majesty of thousands of years of rituals and music is on full display. At the end of the ceremony, the guests stood up and bowed before the statue of Guan Gong to pay tribute to Guan Gong's spirit of loyalty and righteousness.

Chen Wenren, director of the Southwest Region of the Taiwan Chinese Shipping Exchange Association, led a delegation to attend the Guan Gong worship ceremony for the first time. He said that the purpose of leading Taiwanese youths on this trip was to enhance their understanding of traditional Chinese culture and history and to promote cross-strait exchanges.

On September 27, the 2026 Dangyang Guanling Temple Fair and the Cross-Strait (Hubei) Guan Gong Worship Ceremony were held in Dangyang. For the first time, the ceremony introduced the highest standard of ancient sacrificial ritual music - the Eight-Year Dance. (Drone photo) Photo by Zhou Xingliang

In an interview with a reporter from China News Service, Taiwanese young architect Cai Qiaoan said that she had worshiped Guan Gong and admired the spirit of loyalty with her elders since she was a child. This time she went to Dangyang Guan Mausoleum to attend the ceremony. The common beliefs and cultural atmosphere of the same line made her deeply feel that both sides of the Taiwan Strait have the same origin and the beliefs and customs of Guan Gong.

Dangyang Guanling is the mausoleum of Guan Yu, the Shu general of the Three Kingdoms. It is the only Guan Gong cemetery in the world built according to the regulations of imperial mausoleums. This Guan Gong Cultural Tourism Festival will last until mid-October. Dangyang will launch intangible cultural heritage performances, Guan Ling temple fair, Guan Gong parade, art calligraphy photography exhibition, Three Kingdoms theme consumption promotion and other activities.

Huang Yingru, founding president of the Taiwan Association for the Promotion of Cross-Strait Exchanges of Guan Gong Culture, said that Dangyang’s innovative measures have made Guan Gong culture more contemporary and disseminative. It has also opened up new paths and new platforms for deepening cross-strait cultural exchanges, bringing compatriots closer to each other, and enhancing compatriots’ emotional connections. (over)