Guinness World Record Set at Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area Youth Festival

Hong Kong (Hong Kong SAR) – September 25, 2018 (travelindex.com) – A new Guinness world record of group calligraphy was set at the inaugural “Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area Youth Festival – Confucius’ Birthday Celebration” at AsiaWorld-Expo. Co-organized by the GuangDong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area Youth Association and Confucian Academy, the feat namely “The Largest Calligraphy Class” involved the efforts of 2,252 youths across from the Greater Bay Area, all dressed in ethnic costumes of our country’s 56 ethnic groups, and concertedly completed the calligraphy of Chinese word “ru” (meaning “scholar” or “learned man” in Confucianism) in Lishu style. Among the participants is Alex Fong, a Hong Kong artist who dressed in a Bai ethnic costume to reflect his roots. The event is also dedicated to celebrate Confucius’ birthday.

The opening ceremony of the inaugural Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area Youth Festival was also held during the event. Among the officiating guests were Mr. Yasuo Fukuda, Former Prime Minister of Japan; Mr. Lau Kong-wah, Secretary for Home Affairs of the HKSAR Government; Dr Law Chi-kwong, Secretary for Labour and Welfare; Mr. Shen Chong, Director General of the Coordination Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in Hong Kong; Mr. Yang Cheng Wei, Deputy Director-General of the Youth Affairs Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in Hong Kong; Dr. Tong Yun Kai, President of The Confucian Academy; and Mr. Angus Ng, Executive Chairman of GuangDong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area Youth Association.

Dr. Tong Yun Kai, President of The Confucian Academy, stated, “The ancients said, ‘Writing reflects your personality’. It mirrors a person’s literacy and subtlety. As one of the Confucian Six Arts of rites, calligraphy inspires the mind of youths to guide them to ‘cultivate oneself, bring order to the family, govern the country and bring justice and virtue to the World’. ‘The Largest Calligraphy Class’ at the ‘Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area Youth Festival – Confucius’ Birthday Celebration’ gathers the sincere and collective effort of 2,252 youths from across the Greater Bay Area in writing the Chinese word ‘ru’, but also showcases their respect for history and traditional culture. Echoing this meaningful event, The Confucian Academy pays homage to the Confucian on his birthday. We are confident fellow participants of this calligraphy feat will have an enhanced cultural confidence inspired by Confucian ritual and music culture. We are looking forward for the youths to become a new force in preaching Confucianism, showcasing the excellence of Chinese culture to global audience, and promoting the diversity of world civilization and religion.”

Mr. Angus Ng, Executive Chairman of GuangDong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area Youth Association, addressed, “Precision, concentration, commitment and mutual cooperation are keys to success in ‘The Largest Calligraphy Class’. The calligraphy experience of 2,252 youths is a process of inspiring their mind that embodies the values of outstanding traditional Chinese culture and Confucianism. The outstanding traditional Chinese culture represents the unique spiritual identity of the Chinese. It is also the rich nourishment for endless development and growth of the nation. Chinese culture must adapt to contemporary culture and coordinate with modern society to achieve ‘creative transformation and innovative development’. Learning Confucianism is a way for youths to fulfil their national responsibility, sum up experience and bring forth the new through the old. Therefore, ‘The Largest Calligraphy Class’ is more than an event promoting the outstanding traditional Chinese culture, but also sowing the seeds across the youth generation to enlightening their achievement of ‘creative transformation and innovative development’.”

Stringent criteria apply to verify the eligibility of “The Largest Calligraphy Class”. Precision, concentration, commitment and mutual cooperation are just some keys to accomplish the record-setting feat. Prior the event, participants are required to attend a two-lesson intensive calligraphy training instructed by calligraphy teachers to hone their skills. During the event, 2,252 participants are equally divided into 50 groups, or 50 participants per group. Witnessed by notaries, participants must demonstrate full commitment to the class, and write the Chinese word “ru” in Lishi style and with correct strokes. Participants who fail to meet the strict standards will be disqualified by the notaries. Meanwhile, the feat achieves the event’s goals by preaching the concepts mutual cooperation, building a peaceful and harmonious society, enhancing the global understanding of Chinese culture and Confucianism, and inviting global audience to experience the building of China’s modern culture and inheritance of Chinese cultural heritage.

Riding on the occasion, a large-scale Confucius birthday celebration is also presented by The Confucian Academy. Comprised of customs and rituals, musical and dancing performances, the 3-hour celebration not only calls upon the solemn yet sophisticated Confucian rituals aligning with the essence of Five Cardinal Virtues, but also opens the door of Confucian culture to youths. The anticipated celebration even impressed fellow officiating guest Mr. Fukuda, a renowned Chinese culture enthusiast who just announced the establishment of Practicing Peace Foundation during his Hong Kong visit to promoting global peace and cooperation.

GuangDong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area Youth Association firmly adheres to the “One Country” principle and makes good use of “Two Systems”, upholding solidarity of youths from all walks of life across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area to cooperate in building the future of Greater Bay Area. A feast of youth activities in Hong Kong, the inaugural Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area Youth Festival is a one-year programme comprised of culture and art exchange, career and entrepreneurship counselling and sharing, and sports events, with the aims of best promoting Chinese traditional culture and facilitating exchanges between youths across the Greater Bay Area. Besides “The Largest Calligraphy Class”, the Festival monumentally commenced with the launch of Innovating Hong Kong – International Talent Carnival, a mega career expo drawing tens of thousands of visitors.

The inaugural Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area Youth Festival has forged partnerships with over 150 youth organizations across the Greater Bay Area and gathered the collaborative efforts from 20,000 youths for co-organizing the events. This is a successful example bringing youths across the Greater Bay Area together, realizing complementarity and win-win reciprocity, and eventually motivating their peers to achieve, to contribute to the society, and proactively participate in building the Greater Bay Area. Explore yourself at GuangDong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area Youth Association activities and events. Register now at

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