A festival that can help build a harmonious world

About 20 years ago the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization adopted a new convention, the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Since 2008 a special committee has been updating the heritage list of festivals, customs, and cultural practices and expressions.

Not all countries agree with the idea of inscribing or including traditions, festivals and cultural expressions and events on a heritage list, because it practically means excluding hundreds of them. Nevertheless, the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity List promotes global understanding by highlighting cultural diversity.

On Dec 4, 2024, Spring Festival was included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Previously, Dragon Boat Festival was included in the list in 2009, Peking Opera and Chinese shadow puppetry were included in 2010 and 2011 respectively.