Qufu Cultural Festival_奥运英语

　the 2004 china qufu international confucius cultural festival has opened in qufu city, in east china's shandong province.

　a grand ceremony to honor confucius will be held with a series of academic and commercial programmes as part of the festivities.

　confucius （551 bc- 479 bc） was, and still is, a great chinese educator and philosopher born in qufu. this year marks the 2555th anniversary of his birth.

　the 7th beijing international culture and tourism festival opened on nanzhongzhou （southern axis） road last saturday. over 100,000 local residents and tourists crowded the newly renovated road to witness the festive ceremony performed by more than 2,000 folk artists from the country and abroad.

　after the heat hosting the beijing world carnival, beijing amusement park will combine a cartoon festival, lantern festival, and parade show during the national holiday, from october 1 to october 7.

　more than 200 groups of lanterns from zigong, the hometown of lantern-making, in southeast china's sichuan province, will be on display in the park. each group will tell the story of an ancient chinese legend, or about the olympic games.

　a cartoon parade will also be held daily. many famous performers from china and the world, decked out in animated costumes, will attend the parade.