The inaugural Nanyue Tea Culture Festival was held from April 8 at the Grand Temple (Nanyue Damio) in Hengyang City to showcase the 1000-year-old tea worshipping culture.
During the Tea Worship festival, "Ming Qian," or pre-qingming tea, was introduced by two parades bearing flags displaying signs of the 24 traditional Chinese solar terms. With much anticipation from the audience, the pre-qingming tea was ceremoniously prepared for worship by government agricultural officials at district, municipal, and provincial levels as the audience greeted them along the forecourts of the main hall in the Grand Temple all the way through the Tianxia Memorial Archway in Yujie Street, Shoujian Bridge and Jiaying Gate.
The tea worship ceremony was one of the eight official festivities during the festival. The festival, themed "enjoying the tea while immersing in greenery" will last for one month. In addition to the tea worship ceremony, other activities included mountain tea gathering, tea parties, picking tea and going hiking, zen meditation via drinking tea, celebrities gathering, 10,000-people tea-related contest, and tea photography.
Translator: Li Xuan
Source: Hunan Official Web Portal