A statue of Du Fu sits in the Du Fu Thatched Cottage in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. Photo: IC

Chinese cities Chengdu and Chongqing will jointly host the Sixth Chinese Poetry Festival in November, according to the organizer Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Wednesday.  

As the first major national-level cultural event since the coronavirus outbreak, the festival will implement strict protective measures as well as move major events outdoors.  

According to Ming Wenjun, director-general of the ministry's Art Department, as the deadly virus postponed many cultural events to 2021, the upcoming poetry festival will be the first national-level cultural event since its outbreak and will act as proof of the country's successful control of the COVID-19 epidemic. 

The upcoming festival will include dozens of events including seminars, lectures and dialogues as well as poetry sessions that will be streamed online. 

The festival will run November 1-7.