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Date: 29 June – 1 July 2012
Venue: George Town

The Tan Si Chong Ghee Seah Association together with Sam Toh Bean Lok Keok and The Federation of Chan (Tan) Clan Associations Malaysia will be organizing the Fourth International Kai Zhang Cultural Exchange Convention from 29 June to 1 July in Penang. The convention will be participated by local associations and clans as well as those from foreign countries such as Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, China and the Philippines.

The main highlight of the event includes a 12km long grand procession in the streets of George Town on 30 June at 7pm. Around 76 decorated floats will march through Lebuh Presgrave to Gat Lebuh Noordin, Pengkalan Weld, Lebuh Light, Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling, Lebuh Carnarvon, Lebuh Magazine, Jalan Gurdwara, Jalan C.Y. Choy before heading back to the starting point. A man riding a horse wearing an ancient general uniform representing Chen together with flag bearers carrying flags with 87 surnames will lead the procession.

There will also be a chingay parade with lion, dragon and tiger dances, a school band as well as a float with 12 dragons.

The purpose of the event is to commemorate General Chen who built up Zhangzhou in China during the Tang Dynasty. During that time, there were a lot of conflict among the various provinces and General Chen led more than 8,000 soldiers to stabilize the situation and united the people of 87 surnames. His efforts also involved education and development of Zhangzhou.

The first convention started in 2006 in Singapore, followed by Taiwan in 2008 and China in 2010. This year, Penang has been selected to be the host for the fourth convention.

Photo by Lim Soo Peng