Descendants of legendary Emperor pursue 'Chinese Dream'

More than 10,000 people from home and abroad attended an elaborate ceremony on Thursday to pay homage to Huangdi, or the Yellow Emperor, who is considered as the founder of the Chinese civilization and ancestor of all Chinese people.

This year's gathering at the emperor's mausoleum in a county near Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, falls on the Tomb-Sweeping Day, a traditional festival when Chinese mourn their deceased family members.

At the annual ceremony, a drum struck 34 times, once for each provincial-level regions, including Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. A bell struck nine times, symbolizing Chinese people's highest honor for the Yellow Emperor.

A 10-minute long memorial dance was performed in front of the emperor's tomb in a solemn atmosphere.

Yok Mu-ming, chairman of the New Party in Taiwan, present at the ceremony with a group of Taiwan youths, wrote in a poem for the ceremony saying that people across the Taiwan Strait should always remember that they share a common root.

Among the crowds, hundreds of overseas Chinese from all over the world also paid tribute to the Yellow Emperor.

"I was touched by the oration read at the ceremony. It taught us to honor our tradition of hard working, tolerance, honesty, and so on, as well as adjusting to the new era as descendants of the Yellow Emperor," said Tin Shingchao, president of Wu Yup Overseas Association.

This year's oration not only summarized the 5,000-year long Chinese history, but also expressed people's determination to pursue peace and reform and opening-up, and to work together with compatriots from across the Strait for China's dream of rejuvenation.

The catchword "Chinese dream" has encouraged individual Chinese people from all walks of life to contribute to the national goal.

After more than 30 years of rapid development along with reform and opening up, Chinese people believe that they are closer to realizing the great national dream, which was initially put forward about a century ago.

"Chinese dream speaks not only to people living on Chinese mainland, but also Chinese like me from around the world. We've craved for a strong and prosperous nation since the Opium War, but only in recent years have we been closer to the dream," said Li Yaoqiang who lives in Hawaii.

"It's important that we blend in the highly interconnected world today while still having our own identities. That's why more and more overseas Chinese come all the way to join the ceremony," said Tin Shingchao.

The ceremony is also a platform for business exchanges, said Lu Yuexiang. Leading a delegation of dozens of Taiwan entrepreneurs, Lu expected to bring technologies in the fields of modern agriculture, energy, and deep processing from Taiwan to cooperate with companies on the Chinese mainland, especially in the western regions.

During the first-time visit to Xi'an, Lu said she was impressed by the city's skyline, which showed how well developed this city is.

As an ancient capital for 13 dynasties, Xi'an has seen Chinese civilization evolve from generation to generation. It is also a major economic and cultural center in the country's vast west.

"I believe Shaanxi is only the epitome of the country," said Yu Huaxuan, a local of Xi' an, who said she had taken full advantage of the country's fresh westward opening-up drive.

But there is still long way to go to realize the national dream.

"I see much more construction, traffic, air and water pollution, as well as widening wealth gap and inequality along with tremendous economic development. These are the environmental and human costs the country should try to avoid," said Mike Storm, a university teacher in Xi'an for four years.

"It's difficult and takes time for a country of 1.3 billion people to make a change. To be blended in the world stage, China should let the globe see its efforts, and the benefits the change may bring," he said.