Feb 5 marked the commencement of Wuxi's first temple fair of the year, Taibo Temple Fair.

A stilt-walking team garners much attention at the parade. [Photo/wxrb.com]

The temple fair is in commemoration of Wu Taibo, the founder of the State of Wu during the Western Zhou Dynasty (c.11th century-771 BC) and the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC). Wu culture is immensely popular in Wuxi and throughout Jiangsu province.

The event attracted almost 150,000 people. The square parade, the most anticipated activity of the event, made its debuts after the Taibo Temple Fair was included in the list of China's national intangible cultural heritage programs in September, 2014.

An erhu-performance team shows the crowd a huge erhu (a two-stringed bowed instrument) during the parade of the annual Taibo Temple Fair in Wuxi on Feb 5. [Photo/wxrb.com]

The parade features 18 performance troupes, giving lion dance, waist drum, stilt walking and other local folk art shows.