GUANGZHOU: This southern Chinese city is stepping up efforts to put Nanhai Temple on the list of the world's intangible heritages, sources with the Guangzhou cultural authority said.

Meanwhile, the Nanhai Temple, or the South Sea God Temple with a history of 1,413 years, and widely considered as the original source of the ancient "sea silk road," was also the venue for the annual Guangzhou Folk Art Festival, which will end tomorrow.

"The temple is also an important place for fork art development in Guangzhou. With its recognition of one of the world's intangible heritages, the city is expected to see another booming development of folk art," Zhang Ruihua, deputy director of the Guangzhou Municipal Culture Bureau, told China Daily.

According to Zhang, the temple already has been enlisted as one of Guangdong's intangible heritages.

Polo Dan, or the Polo Birthday Celebration, an important temple fair that has been widely acclaimed in the Pear River Delta area, was also a tradition in the ancient temple.

Currently the temple fair is also going on alongside the Guangzhou Folk Art Festival.

Despite its booming development of industries and trade in the last two decades, the 2,200-year-old city has also vowed to further develop its culture and folk art, said Zhang.

Zhang also revealed that the city would be hosting the fourth International Folk Art Festival, which will be held in November.

"By holding the international folk art event, Guangzhou will combine local and international folk art. But most importantly, we are expecting that local folk art will see a boom in the international stage," Zhang said.

Besides performance by more than 20 local folk art troupes, three groups from Russia, Spain and Kenya also gave stunning performance to Guangzhou residents at this year's five-day folk art event.

A number of folk art troupes from more than 50 countries and regions will perform with 20 Chinese troupes in the next year's international folk art gathering, Zhang said.

Editor: Yan