2023 Dressage–the Second Tonglu (China) Fuchun River Poetry Festival Kicks Off

Recently, the opening ceremony of the 2023 Dressage—the Second Tonglu (China) Fuchun River Poetry Festival was held on the Tongjun Mountain, Tonglu County, Hangzhou City.

Opening ceremony site (Photo by He Xiaohua)

The "Tonglu Fuchun River Laurel Award" National Poetry Writing Competition was launched at the opening ceremony, with the keywords of "Tonglu Landscape" and "Equestrian—Dressage", and its deadline for submission due on April 30. Meanwhile, the opening ceremony also saw the release of the Sonnets to Tonglu by Shu Yu and Tonglu theme song creation. It is reported that Shu Yu, a worthy poet and writer in Tonglu, was invited to return to her hometown Tonglu in 2021 and initiated the poetry festival.

Opening ceremony site (Photo by He Xiaohua)

At the poetry festival, cultural and artistic figures presented a series of programs. Specifically, they recited classic poems in both English and Chinese that have influenced generations of Chinese readers, including the When You Are Old by W.B. Yeats, Autumn Day by Rainer Rilke, and Today, We Say Goodbye by Stefan Augustin Doinas.

The poetry festival will last for three months, during which a series of activities such as trips for inspiration made by the Tonglu alliance of national famous universities' poetry societies, and lectures by national well-known poets in campus, enterprises and beautiful villages, will be carried out. The closing ceremony of the poetry festival and Tonglu Fuchun River Poet Laurate Award will be held in late May at the main venue of the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 equestrian event.