The first international singing festival on the Yellow River will be held at its Hukou Waterfalls in Shanxi Province from June 10 to 12, the festival's organizing committee has announced.

The festival will mark the 60th anniversary of the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan (1937-1945) and the centennial birth anniversary of Xian Xinghai, a great Chinese musician.

The organizing committee has sent letters of invitation to professional and amateur choruses in more than 10 countries, including Singapore and New Zealand.

Jointly organized by the Shanxi Provincial Tourism Bureau and the government of Linfen city where the Hukou Waterfalls are situated, the festival plans to bring together Chinese singers from home and abroad.

The repertoire of songs will be in praise of the "Mother river of the Chinese nation," according to a brief release by the organizing committee.

A ceremony will also be held, involving the mixing of water taken from eight provinces through which the Yellow River runs, to symbolize the union of the Chinese nation.

The 5,464 kilometers long Yellow River, China's second longest, traverses seven provinces and two autonomous regions before emptying into the Bohai Sea in Shandong Province.

The Hukou Waterfalls is the birthplace of one of the best known and loved songs in China, the "Yellow River Chorus," composed by the great musician Xian in 1939 to inspire the Chinese people in their fight against the invading Japanese army.

(China Daily April 19, 2005)