The Yellow River Culture Forum kicked off on April 18 in Dongying, which is where the Yellow River flows into the Bohai Sea in Shandong province.

Jointly hosted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the China Public Relations Association, and the Shandong Provincial People's Government, the forum is designed to promote the profound culture of the Yellow River, "China's mother river", as well as to further spread the story of the Yellow River around the world.

It has gathered government officials from the Yellow River basin, cultural experts, and scholars from around the world to discuss the core characteristics of Yellow River culture and its contemporary values, the development path for the protection and inheritance of Yellow River culture, as well as ways to better present the values of Yellow River culture in the new era.

The Yellow River Culture Forum opens on April 18 in Dongying, Shandong province. [Photo by Liu Chuan/chinadaily.com.cn]

Government officials from the nine provincial-level regions in the Yellow River basin attend the opening ceremony of the Yellow River Culture Forum. [Photo by Wang Jing/chinadaily.com.cn]

A strategic partnership of the nine provincial-level regions in the Yellow River basin in carrying on Yellow River culture and on presenting Yellow River stories is launched at the opening ceremony. [Photo by Wang Jing/chinadaily.com.cn]

A performance eulogizing the Yellow River, "China's mother river", is staged at the opening ceremony. [Photo by Wang Jing/chinadaily.com.cn]

Participants at the opening ceremony of the Yellow River Culture Forum. [Photo by Wang Jing/chinadaily.com.cn]

The forum runs for two days in Dongying, Shandong province. [Photo by Wang Jing/chinadaily.com.cn]