The first Lu Xun Culture and Arts Festival will be held October 16-22 in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province.

Shaoxing, a watertown three hours' ride south of Shanghai, is the birthplace of Lu Xun (1881-1936), a literary giant in China. The scenery and folk art of the city has received national and even world recognition through Lu's novels.

"The locals in Shaoxing have a profound love toward Lu Xun," says Yuan Chang-shou, deputy Party secretary of Shaoxing and the director of the festival committee. "We want to pass forward Lu's spirit through this festival."

In the future, the festival will be a biennial cultural event.

Shexi, a local traditional opera, will be staged at the opening ceremony of the festival and during the week six traditional plays from around the country, some adapted from Lu's novels, will be performed in the Shaoxing Grand Theater. Shanghai Kunju Opera House will stage "Shang Shi" (Regretting for the Past), adapted from a novelette by Lu.

Meanwhile, the Shaoxing Cinema City, covering 24,000 square meters, will screen a week of films adapted from Lu's novels.

During the festival, the city's 50-year-old Lu Xun Museum will hold a symposium and has invited scholars of Lu Xun studies from all around the world.

One billion yuan (US$120 million) will be invested in the renovation and development of Lu Xun's former residence and neighboring community, covering 10.29 hectares. The first phase, with an investment of 3.5 million yuan, will be completed next May.

"We will try to restore places Lu Xun has written about," according to Jing Yan, the deputy curator of the new Lu Xun Museum.

(Eastday.com July 31, 2003)