China to Host Ceremonies to Commemorate Chinese Ancestor ����Ceremonies will be held in central China's Hunan Province on October 16 to commemorate Yandi, the ancestor of the Chinese nation. ����At the same time, the annual Yandi Festival will be held in Yanling County, where he is buried, in Zhuzhou City of the province, said Tang Zhixiang, vice-governor of the province, at a news conference in Beijing Friday. ����Chinese people throughout the world believe they are descendants of Yandi and Huangdi. And Yandi, also known as Shennong, is deemed as the founder of China's agriculture. The history of holding memorial ceremonies for Yandi can be traced back to more than 1,000 years. ����The government of Hunan Province has hosted annual memorial ceremonies every year since 1993. The mausoleum of Yandi is under state-level protection and the Yandi Mausoleum Foundation has raised more than 20 million yuan to protect and repair the cultural site. ����Over 300,000 domestic and overseas travelers visit the Yandi Mausoleum every year to pay their respects to Yandi. Economicnews 1999-07-03 Page2 Full Story in Chinese