A plaque bearing the words "Home of China's Maritime Silk Road Culture" is granted to Yinzhou district, Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province, by the Chinese Folk Literature and Art Association on May 13. [Photo/zj.zjol.com] 

Yinzhou district in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province, was honored by the Chinese Folk Literature and Art Association as the home of China's Maritime Silk Road culture, the first of its kind in China, on May 13.

The award was given at the opening ceremony of the district's 2019 Maritime Silk Road Cultural and Tourism Festival.

The opening ceremony of the 2019 Maritime Silk Road Cultural and Tourism Festival in Yinzhou district is held on May 13. [Photo/zj.zjol.com]

Ningbo, as the starting point of China's ancient Maritime Silk Road, is dubbed a "living fossil" that records the history of the Road. Yinzhou district, the city's core area, preserves many important cultural relics of the Road, and inherits some of its most influential folk arts and cultural traditions. 

The district has been devoted to promoting the inheritance and development of Maritime Silk Road culture in recent years through a series of art festivals, creative design competitions and concerts. It has even established a research institute to study the culture. 

The opening ceremony also announced three Maritime Silk Road travel routes in Yinzhou, and honored six local units as the district's first batch of Maritime Silk Road cultural relics. 

In addition, a tea drinking activity and an exhibition of local folk arts, such as gold-and-silver embroidery and traditional Buddha sculpturing, were included in the opening.