A series of parties and shows is being held in Shenzhen to celebrate the city's first Hakka Culture Festival. [Photo: xinhuanet.com]

A series of parties and shows is being held in Shenzhen to celebrate the city's first Hakka Culture Festival.

The monthlong festival started Friday with a Hakka song and dance party at the Hakka Folk Culture Museum in Longgang, the district where most of the 3 million Hakka people in Shenzhen reside. Over 400 Hakka culture researchers and government officials were present at the ceremony.

The festival also includes an exhibition of photos, paintings and calligraphy, a seminar, a lecture on Hakka songs and a concert by well-known Hakka singer Liao Fenfang.

The exhibition, which opened last week at the Longgang Culture and Arts Center and will close this Friday, features over 200 photos, paintings and calligraphic works on Hakka traditions and architecture.

The exhibition will be moved to the Citizens' Center on Saturday and will continue there until Dec. 30.

Liao's concert will be held tomorrow at the Citizens' Center.

The Hakka are Han Chinese people whose ancestors are said to have originated in the Henan and Shanxi provinces of northern China over 1,700 years ago.

The Hakka people first moved to Longgang District in the Song Dynasty (960-1279) period. There are still over 100 traditional round Hakka residences there at present.

Longgang Hakka Folk Culture Museum, also called Hehu New Residence, is the biggest Hakka residence in Shenzhen. Built in 1817, it covers a sprawling 25,000 square meters. Hehu New Residence entered the provincial protection list in 2002.