By Bao Daozu (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-12-29 07:13

QUFU, Shandong: There won't be any winter blues on Sunday at this popular tourist destination - the birthplace of the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius.

Grand preparations are being made to warmly welcome Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, who is expected to arrive that morning to pay homage at the Confucius Temple.

A grand procession ceremony will be held and Fukuda is expected to receive a grand reception that "would only be given when an emperor visits", a local government official involved in the preparations, said.

The procession ceremony will involve about 240 participants who will wear ancient costumes.

"We have conducted a clean-up in the temple compound to prepare for this important event," a staff member at Confucius Temple Administration Bureau, surnamed Peng, said.

Local authorities have made some cosmetic repairs inside the compound, Peng said.

Souvenir vendors and photo studios inside the Confucius Temple have been told to halt business on Sunday, vendors said.

Fukuda chose Qufu to show his respects for Chinese culture.

Former US President Bill Clinton and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, visited Xi'an during their official visits.

Fukuda's planned visit has also been well received by the local tourism operators, who hoped that his visit could attract more Japanese tourists to the city.

The number of Japanese tourists there experienced a sharp drop in recent years after relations between Beijing and Tokyo became chilly since 2001.

"The number of Japanese tourists to the city has been dwindling in recent years because of the poor relations between the two countries," Liu Wei, a local tour guide, said.

In stark contrast, the number of tourists from South Korea, which was also heavily influenced by Confucius culture, has soared in recent years and is now the city's largest source of foreign visitors with numbers exceeding 100,000, according to the information office of the municipal government.

It is estimated that tourists from South Korea and Japan account for about 80 percent of all foreign visitors to the city.

"If given the chance, I would like to present a seal with his name to Prime Minister Fukuda to show China's friendship towards him," said the owner of a seal shop near the Confucius Temple, where hundreds of such shops can be found.

Confucius was born in 551 BC in Qufu, located in the middle of East China's Shandong Province.

About a fifth of the city's 150,000 population have the family name Kong, the same family name of Confucius.

Twelve Chinese emperors have paid homage at the Confucius Temple throughout history.

Dozens of foreign dignitaries have visited the city since 1954, including former Japanese Prime Minister Murayama Tomiichi who visited the city in 2002.

(China Daily 12/29/2007 page2)