A grand ceremony paying tribute to Huangdi, a legendary ancestor of the Chinese nation, was held at the Xiandu Scenic Spot in Jinyun, Zhejiang province, on Thursday.

Thursday also marked the Chongyang Festival, or the Double Ninth Festival, a traditional Chinese holiday to honor and respect elders.

The ceremony, which started at 9:50 am, was composed of nine parts, including striking bells, offering flower baskets and wine to ancestors, reading a ceremonial address and singing carols, and had the theme of "showing respect to Chinese ancestors with efforts all over the world and opening new chapters for attaining common prosperity".

During the ceremony, drums were played 34 times and bells were rung 15 times, representing 1.5 billion Chinese from 34 provinces, municipalities, autonomous regions and special administrative regions in China and overseas Chinese.

The memorial ceremony for Huangdi in Jinyun dates back to the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420), and the event was included in the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2011.

"The culture of Huangdi in Jinyun has a long history," said Chen Shengyong, former dean of the School of Public Administration at Zhejiang Gongshang University. "It should be one of the main places for worshipping Huangdi culture and its legends. Promoting and developing Huangdi culture and exploring its rich cultural connotations are important for promoting the spirit of patriotism."

Showing respect to Huangdi in the new era is not only reverence for the ancestors who started the Chinese civilization, but can also inspire the Chinese to unite, helping build the common spiritual home for all Chinese, he added.

Fang Xiaoying contributed to this story.