The annual Shanghai International Poetry Festival kicked off in the Hengfu (Hengshan-Fuxing Road) Historical and Cultural Area in Xuhui District on Wednesday, featuring a reading event and poetry exchange activities.

In its sixth year, the four-day festival, themed "Poetry, and the Common Destiny of Mankind," is comprised of an array of online and offline events.

Poets will interact with the public in poetry forums, salons, reading events and poetry appreciation events. The awarding ceremony of a poetry competition will be held as well.