The triennial song wang chuan ceremony is held in Xiamen, Fujian province on Dec 14. [Photo by Zhang Bin/chinanews.com]

The song wang chuan celebration, a longstanding traditional festival in Xiamen, was held on Dec 14. It featured a variety of folk performances.

The traditional festival has a history of more than 500 years, and was included in the country's intangible cultural heritage list in 2011. The festival originated as a way to pray for safe sea travel, an abundance of fish, and peace. It is prevalent throughout Southeast China and nearby countries such as Malaysia and Singapore due to historic trade and cultural interchange.

This year's event, focusing on marine culture and traditional Minnan customs, attracted thousands of people. It offered visitors a lavishly decorated ship parade and an array of vibrant artistic performances.

A seminar on song wang chuan was also held at the event. Over 50 experts and scholars from China and Malaysia attended.

Gan Tian Loo, vice-chairman of the Malaysia-China Public Relations Association, said in an address at the seminar that song wang chuan plays an important role in expanding people-to-people and cultural exchange among overseas Chinese and is a great way to promote cultural tourism in Xiamen.