People walk to attend a memorial ceremony for the Chinese philosopher Confucius in Qufu, East China's Shandong province, April 5, 2019, on the occasion of China's traditional Tomb-Sweeping Day. [Photo/Xinhua]

JINAN -- An Experience Center developed by the Confucius Institute Headquarters has opened to the public free of charge.

The center is located in the city of Qufu in East China's Shandong province, the birthplace of Confucius.

The opening hours are from 9 am to 5 pm every Tuesday to Sunday. Guided tours are scheduled twice a day.

Inaugurated in 2014 and covering 18,000 square meters, the center has two experience areas and a depository of more than 20,000 Confucian classics.

The "Confucius and Confucianism" experience area consists of four exhibition sections which showcase the life and thoughts of the ancient sage, his influence on the world, as well as the development and spread of Confucianism.

"Since 2018, the center has received hundreds of Confucius Institute deans, teachers and students from more than 100 countries," said Zhang Bin, a local Confucius researcher.

Confucius (551-479 BC) was an educator and philosopher who founded a school of thought, known as Confucianism and set up the first private schools in China that enrolled students from different social classes.