April 4 was the Qingming Festival, the traditional day on which the Chinese people pay their respects to their ancestors.

At the mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor in Huangling County, 165 kilometers from Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, the local government sponsored a spectacular traditional-style ritual.

Shaanxi Governor Jia Zhibang said that realizing the reunification of the motherland is the best way to cherish the Yellow Emperor's memory.

For the first time, China Central Television, Shanghai Oriental Television, Hong Kong Phoenix Television and Shaanxi Television broadcast this year's event live to an international audience.

The Yellow Emperor, a great tribal chief who lived in the 27th century BC, is honored as the founder of Chinese civilization. The invention of carts, boats, the bow and arrow and Chinese medicine are attributed to him. He is said to have created pictographic writing and originated sericulture.

Although many legends grew up around the man, the great advances that were made during his time made China one of the world's four great ancient civilizations.

To better protect the mausoleum, a fund was established in Beijing in 1992 to collect money from all over the world for a mausoleum renovation project.

More than 130 million yuan (US$15.7 million) was collected. Local governments, companies and individuals donated about 80 million yuan (US$9.6 million).

The second phase of the renovation, costing some 250 million yuan (US$30 million) has been under way since December 2001. On Saturday, 9.3 million yuan (US$1.1 million) was donated by 30 local governments, companies and individuals said Sun Tianyi, the fund's director.

(China Daily April 5, 2004)