Following the principle of adhering to Qu Yuan\'s poetic sentiments, inheriting his poetic spirit, and passing down his passion for poetry, the award ceremony of the first "China Qu Yuan Poetry Prize", co-sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Hubei provincial government, was held in Yichang Theater on the evening of May 29. About twenty outstanding collections of contemporary Chinese poetry won gold and silver awards. The contemporary poet Li Ying first received the title of "Laureate Poet of China Qu Yuan Poetry Prize". And Yichang was granted as the "City of Chinese Poetry" by the Poetry Institute of China.

　　Those leaders who attended the ceremony include: Ma Peihua, Vice Chairman of CPPCC; Li Jingze, Vice Chairman of China Writers Association; Zheng Xinmiao， the former vice minister of Chinese Ministry of Culture; Yin Hanning, Minister of Hubei Publicity Department; Huang Chuping, Party Secretary of Yichang Municipal Party Committee; Guo Shenglian, Vice Governor of Hubei Provincial Government, and Guo Yuejin, Vice Chairman of CPPCC Hubei Provincial Committee.

　　Ma Xuming, Mayor of Yichang Municipal Government, gave the welcome speech. He said that as the birthplace of Qu Yuan (c.340-278 B.C)-the great patriotic poet in Chinese history, Yichang is one of the first cradles of poems and songs. Qu Yuan wrote many immortal poems such as "Lisao (The Lament)", "Asking Heaven", "Nine Songs", starting the history of the romantic poetry in China. The classic lines such as "My way ahead is long; I see no ending; yet I will spare no efforts to seek the truth of the world with my will unbending." has inspired generations of Chinese people to strive to move forward. In order to inherit the spirit of Qu Yuan, continue the literary blood of Yichang, enhance the art of poetry, and promote the Chinese culture, Yichang sets up the poetry prize and holds the poetry gathering in honor of Qu Yuan. Yichang, with a history of 2,400 years and splendid culture, is rich in talents and natural resources. The award of "City of Chinese Poetry" is the glory of all the 4.15 million people in Yichang. Yichang will make full use of the "China Qu Yuan Poetry Prize" as a vehicle to run the Dragon Boat Festival Poetry Gathering with a more open attitude, making new contributions to promote the new poetry of China.

　　Li Jingze, Vice President of China Writers Association, said in his speech, "China Qu Yuan Poetry Prize", set up by the Poetry Institute of China (subjected by the Chinese Writers Association), is a high-level award for the poets from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and mainland China, overseas Chinese poets and poetry enthusiasts. It aims to pass down the traditional Chinese culture, uphold Qu Yuan\'s spirit of quest and patriotism, display the latest achievements of Chinese poetry and promote the contemporary poetry. Beginning from this year, the selection for the prize will be held every two years, and the award ceremony will always be held in Qu Yuan\'s hometown-Yichang City, Hubei Province. Establishing the "China Qu Yuan Poetry Prize" is to review our great traditional culture, to maintain the spirit of Chinese poetry and to inherit and promote our cultural heritage.

　　Li Jingze cited a remark of William Faulkner, a famous American writer, to give his best wishes to Yichang City: “The poet\'s voice need not merely be the record of man; it can be one of props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail.” The ceremony opened as the famous artist Xu Tao reading Qu Yuan\'s "Orange Ode": Heaven and earth have brought forth a noble tree-the orange, destined to grace this southern land. Then, in the sound of the reciters Shi Ke and Wen Yujuan that "If I love you, I won\'t flaunt myself with your high branches, like the trumpet creeper make a career." "When I was a child, nostalgia seemed a small stamp, \'Here am I, and there ……my mother.\'", the audience felt the charm of the poems “To the Oak” by Shu Ting and “Nostalgia” by Yu Kwang-chung. The poem "Wind from China" by Fan Zeng and "Young at Heart" by Wang Meng received waves of applause from audience during the reciting performed by Qu Xianhe and Wang Yanding... And the celebrated poet Zheng Chouyu extemporarily performed his famous contemporary poem by a song.

　　During the ceremony, when Zhang Tongwu, Honorary President of the Poetry Institute of China awarded Yichang as the "City of Chinese Poetry", the audience burst into applause, sharing the glory together. "China Qu Yuan Poetry Prize" is the highest individual award established by the Poetry Institute of China. More than 10,000 poetic works participated in the selection this time, coming not only from different provinces and autonomous regions of mainland China, but also from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, the United States, Australia, Canada, and Japan. The prize winners were decided after three rounds of selection by the experts organized by the Poetry Institute of China. According to the selection results, ten works, including the poetry anthology "Personal History" by Dajie from Hebei Province, "Poem of Mercy" by Maozi from Yichang City won the gold award of "China Qu Yuan Poetry Prize". 10 works won silver award, including the group poem "Fragrance of the Earth" by Li Qingsong from Liaoning Province and the poetry anthology "The Sad Black Elk" by Hainan from Yunnan Province.

　　When receiving the prize, 88-year-old Li Ying made the following remark, "I feel greatly honored that I was given the award in Qu Yuan\'s hometown and my work associated with Qu Yuan\'s name. Qu Yuan\'s spirit is always worthy of being learned from. Today’s China is witnessing the right time for the poetry development, and I believe that before long, there will be more excellent works which can withstand the test of time. Chinese poetry is very promising! "

　　The famous poet and writer Zheng Chouyu (Taiwan China), Gu Ailing (the USA), Zheng Xinmiao, Mei Ye, Xiong Zhaozheng, Yuan Shao Shan (Macau China) respectively announced winners of the "Laureate Award", "Gold Award Author" and "Beautiful Yichang Special Award".

　　The poetry gathering was jointly held by the Intangible Cultural Heritage Division of the Ministry of Culture, the Poetry Institution of China, the provincial Department of Culture, the Taiwan Affairs Office of provincial government and Yichang municipal government. Yichang government leaders Li Yalong, Song Wenbao, Wei Shengbin, Liao Dafeng, Ma Xuejun, Liu Xuefu, Xiong attended the conference. Some provincial and municipal government leaders and guests gave prizes to the winners.

　　Poetic Yichang in Festival Moonlight

　　"Reading \'The Book of Songs\', we chant the sun, the moon and stars, sigh the changes brought by the time; Reading \'The Songs of Chu\', we praise the vast sky and eulogize the heroic Yangtze River." On the evening of May 29, at the award ceremony of "China Qu Yuan Poetry Prize" and the Dragon Boat Festival Poetry Gathering, the sounds of four hosts immediately brought the audience to the colorful world endowed by the Chinese poetry with a history of thousands of years.

　　Poets from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and mainland China gathered at the ceremony in Yichang Theater to recall the long history of Chinese poetry. The ceremony also attracted the attention of poetry lovers who were watching it through television and the Internet.

　　It is the pride of Yichang. In the powerful sound of Xu Hongtao, a famous reciter in China, the famous classic poem "Orange Ode" written by the great poet Qu Yuan echoed in the theater. In the naive singing by children, "Yichang’s Love Letter" (a poem written to invite people around the world to visit Yichang) ignited the passion of poetry and sent an invitation to the poetry lovers of the world on behalf of Yichang.

　　Yichang, a romantic city with long poetic tradition, won the first award at the ceremony. When Mr. Zhang Tongwu, the honorary president of the Poetry Institute of China, personally presented the medal engraved with“The City of Chinese poetry" to Yichang, the audiences burst into applause. Mr. Xiong Zhaozheng, the winner of Mao Dun Literature Award as well as famous contemporary writer and poet, commented: “Yichang is indeed a poetic place that can stimulate one’s poetic sentiments, and I have also written hundred poems on Yichang.” Then he amused the audience with his following words, “unfortunately, no poem has won the award."

　　Under the guidance of Macau\'s famous poet-Mrs. Yuan Shaoshan, the silver medal of "China Qu Yuan Poetry Prize" and the special award for the poetry contest called "Beautiful Yichang" were announced respectively. “Fragrance of the Earth”, “The Sad Black Elk” and other outstanding poems were presented on the big screen of the spot.

　　In the following poetry recitation session, they recited “Long Live the Youth”, “To the Oakland”, “The Wind from China” with excellent voice and great passion, which are the representative works of the famous writers named Wang Meng, Shu Ting and Fan Zeng respectively.

　　The poetry lovers lost themselves in the soulful recitation. For them, this is indeed an audio and visual feast.

　　When the host announced that Mr. Zheng Xinmiao, the president of Chinese Poetry Association, and Miss Ye Mei, a famous Chinese writer, will announce the winners of the Golden Award of "China Qu Yuan Poetry Prize", the whole atmosphere became quite tense because we all know that this is the highest individual award of the national poetry. The poet who wins this honor is equivalent to climb to the highest point of the ladder of success.

　　Ten poems were announced successively including the poetry anthology “Personal History” written by Da Xie and the series of poems entitled “Poem of Mercy” written by Maozi from Yichang. As the witnesses of this modern Chinese poetry festival, the audience cheered again and again for the success of those poets. When the winners stood on the stage and accepted the award, some excited poetry "fans" even stood up.

　　The climax of this poetry festival came along with the awarding of the highest award called "Poet Laureate." Mr. Zheng Chouyu, Taiwan famous poet and professor of Yale University, Mrs Gu Ailing, famous poet as well as professor of Harvard University, presented the award together.

　　“The person who wins the poet laureate of the first‘Chinese Qu Yuan Poetry Prize’ is the famous contemporary poet-Li Ying.”When these words appeared on the screen of the evening party, the audience burst into warm applause. "He writes poems from 16 to 80-year-old and from the 1940s to today. He has never stopped writing poetry as if he were born for poetry." This is not only a summary for the poetic life of this poet laureate, but also the goal for many poets and poetry lovers to pursue.

　　Although the poetry festival lasts just for one and a half hours, the poetry lovers who witnessed the party at the scene experienced the poetic charm of thousands of years. In Yichang this night, people were crazy about poetry.

　　Walking out of the spot of the awarding party, many poetry lovers did not want to leave as if they were still looking forward to relive the poetry festival.

　　But it does not matter because we will meet again in Yichang in two years! (Reporters: Zhao Wei, Cai Junting; correspondent: He Fan)