Confucius Cultural Festival enlightens expats on Chinese culture

The 2021 China (Qufu) International Confucius Cultural Festival and the 7th Nishan Forum on World Civilizations was held in Qufu, a county-level city in Jining, East China's Shandong province, from Sept 27 to 28.

Foreign journalists representing over 10 overseas media agencies from countries such as Italy, South Korea, Brazil, Pakistan and Portugal embarked on a "Charming Shandong" trip to the city to experience traditional Chinese Confucius culture.

This year's cultural festival is themed around the celebration of the 2,572nd anniversary of the birth of Confucius, a famous ancient Chinese philosopher and educator. The Confucius Temple, which is located in Qufu, the birthplace of the sage, held a memorial ceremony on Sept 28.

The media group visited the Confucius Temple, the Confucius Cemetery and the Confucius Family Mansion on Sept 27. It is the first time this many foreign journalists are visiting Qufu.

Riaz Muhammad Mudassar, a journalist from Pakistan CPEC News, said that he heard and learned about Confucius from books, literature and movies, but this is the first time he is visiting Confucius' hometown to see his former residence, temple and mausoleum.