The opening ceremony of the 3rd China Heilongjiang International Rice Festival is held in Harbin, capital city of China’s northernmost Heilongjiang province, on Oct 18. [Photo/people.cn]

The 3rd China Heilongjiang International Rice Festival kicked off in Harbin, capital city of China’s northernmost Heilongjiang province, on Oct 18.

This year’s rice festival has a theme of “Rice Fragrance Diffuses World” and will last five days until Oct 22.

Activities during the festival include a rice exhibition, a rice tasting activity, the 2020 International Rice Industry Development Forum and special live-streams promoting rice brands.
 
A rice-themed pavilion, a rice culture area, a negotiation and promotion area, a tasting area and a media interview area have been set up to display rice culture, the rice industry and rice products in the forms of exhibitions, on-site rice cooking and tasting, VR technology, graphic boards and promotional videos.

It was attended by rice enterprises from China’s 19 provinces, as well as from Japan, Thailand, South Korea, South Africa and Russia, who all exhibited products and promoted sales.

Meanwhile, this year’s rice tasting activity received a total of 726 rice samples from seven countries and 22 domestic provinces and autonomous regions. 

Rice products with excellent quality were granted gold, silver and bronze medals after evaluation and assessment by 43 experts.
 
Wang Wentao, governor of Heilongjiang province, delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the 3rd China Heilongjiang International Rice Festival. [Photo/people.cn]