A worrying lack of culture
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-02-28 07:19

We should enrich the cultural lives of rural people, says an article in People's Daily. The following is an excerpt:

Before the Spring Festival, public cultural venues such as museums started opening their doors for free to visitors across the country, enriching the lives of urban residents. This brought one question to mind - how can we do the same for rural people?

Compared with their urban cousins, rural people have poorer cultural lives. Playing mahjong is their major form of recreation. The monotonous cultural life in rural regions has created space for pornography and gambling to run rampant.

A key reason for the lack of cultural offerings in rural areas is a lack of investment. As the newly published Development Report of China's Public Cultural Service in 2007 shows, the number of cultural service institutions has been shrinking in rural areas because of the weak investment. The number of cultural centers at the township level dropped by 5,000 in the past six years, and those left standing must contend with tight budgets and bleak prospects.

The building of basic cultural facilities and cultural teams is a precondition for enriching the lives of rural people. If we want to add color to the rural cultural life, we should increase funding.

After years of hard work, many rural regions have improved their economies. They are able to invest money in building cultural facilities and teams. Cultural prosperity concerns everyone, so the dearth of cultural offerings in the countryside should be a national issue.

Of course, ensuring access to culture in rural areas is a system

(China Daily 02/28/2008 page8)