Historic Huitong celebrates National Day with gala

Huitong Village in Tangjiawan Town is hosting an art festival in celebration of the Oct 1 National Day from Sept 28 to Oct 2. The village is spotlighting its 170-year history through cultural displays and musical performances.

An exhibition on Sept 28 will display more than 50 works by 15 famed artists in what has been named Artists' Village. Exhibits featuring traditional Chinese and oil paintings, watercolors, and pottery are expected to generate academic discussions among the owners and notable artists from out of town.

Among the highlights of activities is a children's painting show on a 20-m picture scroll. Each youngster will draw their ideal world on the scroll without restraints of forms or content.

In addition, a creative market will be set up behind the North Watchtower to attract revelers keen on DIY experiences. They can interact with crafts people and learn how to make unique handicrafts, be they traditional, stylish, or innovative.

Music fest

Another attraction is a performance of Chinese traditional coming-of-age ceremonies -- Capping and Hairpin rituals. They are held for 20-year-old men and 15-year-old girls respectively. Accompanying that will be Chinese culture lectures, ancient poetry recitals, and Chinese classical instrument performances.

Also slated is a concert of folk songs listed as intangible cultural heritage items. Staged will be On-Water Wedding, Shatian, Sanzao and Jishan folk songs among other local repertoire that have been recomposed with marine cultural elements. The new versions are inspired by Baojing Bay Rock Carvings on Gaolan Island. 

Ni Huiying, Huang Hongying, Tang Zheming, and other state and provincial intangible cultural heritage inheritors as well as other national artists will perform. 

Moreover, famous local musicians, teachers, and students will perform original music works on Oct 2, according to organizers.

To celebrate the village's past as Zhuhai's first to realize all-accessed power supply and the first to show free movies for residents, there will be a presentation of a series of new prominent micro-film works in Tiaomei Ancestral Hall.

Alongside it will be a sharing session at Mok Great Ancestral Hall given by renowned intangible cultural heritage successors from Guangdong Province.

Handicrafts to be displayed [Photos provided by Zhuhai National Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone]

Revelers will be also treated at 20 booths on Oct 1 and 2 to Tangjiawan Tea Refreshments, Mud-Baked Chicken, and other specialties unique to Tangjiawan.

The event is sponsored by the Administrative Committee of the Zhuhai National Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone and organized by the Social Security & Public Service Bureau of the zone.

Situated on hilly land in the north of Fenghuang Mt, with an atmosphere of primitive simplicity, Huitong Village was built in the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) in 1732. Relics there include the Memorial Archway erected at the very beginning, ancestral temples and watchtowers, well-patterned dwellings, and the Mok's abstinence hall, also known as "Qixia Nunnery." The so-called nunnery is sited in the west of the Village, and was built by Mok Yongyu, who had family members of three generations serving as chief compradors of Hong Kong Butterfield & Swire Co.