The golden statue of Chinese Ming Dynasty navigator Zheng He was escorted to shuttle among different temples here Thursday by some 5,000 fans of different nationalities and religions, whose gala parade went through the whole city to enliven Zheng's ideal of peace and tolerance.

It took the fans some 12 hours to finish a 20-kilometer journey across the capital city of Central Java Province. They started off from the Dajue Temple at six o'clock in the morning, walked the half-kilometer-long road of the Semrang Chinatown, then took to the main streets, and stopped for some six hours for pilgrims to pray after arriving at the Zheng He Temple.

In the afternoon, the parade presented a fashion show of various traditional Indonesian and Chinese costumes on the boulevard beside Central Java Governor Murtiyanto's office.

The governor watched the show at a podium above his residence, consistently waving to the fans and performers.

"By showing the costumes, we want to highlight the ideal of peace and tolerance, which was promoted by Zheng He hundreds of years ago during his seven voyages of the West Ocean," said Zhou Jichao, Secretary General of the Organizing Committee of Zheng He Anniversary in Semarang.

Around 18 o'clock, the statue returned to Dajue Temple, which symbolized the climax of the anniversary.

Such a gala parade boasted a 200-year history in Semarang, but this year saw the largest number of participants, mostly because it was the 600th anniversary, said Li Botu, Chairman of the Organizing Committee.

Before the parade, the committee had inaugurated a trade show, opening ceremony for the new Zheng He Temple and charity sale of souvenirs. In the coming days of the one-week-long celebration, there will be seminars, photo shows as well as dance performances. The celebration is scheduled to end on Sunday.

During his navigation, Zheng He and his fleet stopped at Semarang for three times, leaving several historical sites for the port city. Dajue Temple and Zheng He Temple are now the most significant sites related with him in terms of religious, academic and economic values.

Source: Xinhua