Zhongshan Special

Charity parade helps build a better world

By Lao Zhan (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-05-20 07:43

Local folk artists perform dragon dance during the charity parade.

The annual charity parade has become an integral part of Zhongshan people's endeavor to develop the spirit of fraternity advocated by Dr Sun Yat-sen, a native of the city and China's democratic forerunner.

The local government's idea to highlight the theme of fraternity and harmony at the Shanghai Expo is what made them stand out, according to Yin Zhaoju, vice-mayor of the city.

"Our theme in application for a presence at the Expo immediately impressed the selectors among the 106 cases submitted by over 80 cities globally," he said.

Yin said the charity parade is a good demonstration of this theme. The city initiated the annual charity parade in 1988, initially in an attempt to raise funds for the elderly. It is now an annual charitable gala in which tens of thousands of people participate on every Lantern Festival.

Over 3 million people including representatives of the red-cross societies nationwide, overseas Chinese and Hong Kong and Macao residents of Zhongshan origin, and migrant workers from across the nation have joined in the parades in the 23 years.

And more than 1.2 million people have donated over 700 million yuan during the past 23 parades.

The vice-mayor said that the event is well organized with 55 teams consisting of rural volunteers and another 68 teams of community volunteers playing active roles in a series of charitable activities ranging from performances, sales, contests, medical services, maintenance services and donations.

The event is a showcase for folk activities including the crane dance, phoenix dance, lion dance, and piu-sik parade, turning the gala into a carnival.

He said that it is of great importance to the local government that use of funds is rational and management of the money raised is transparent. They have established an oversight system to ensure that this is the case.

Any individual who donates over 200 yuan and any organization, which donates over 1,000 yuan are made public, and how the funds are used is subject to professional auditing and made known to the public every year.

Of the funds, 218 million yuan has been used to help the needy and more than 5 million yuan has been used to set up a special school for the disabled.

Another 180 million of the funds was used for 63 public projects including a hospital and a first-aid center, with another 146 million yuan being used for disaster-relief on occasions including the Sichuan earthquake in 2008 and the disaster caused by typhoon Morakot in Taiwan in 2009.

If you want more information on Zhongshan's participation to Shanghai World Expo 2010, please visit http://expo2010.zs.gov.cn/main/english/index.action

(China Daily 05/20/2010 page3)