A dance drama performed by artists from Wuxi, Jiangsu province, was thrust into the spotlight in Phnom Penh as the Jiangsu Culture Week was unveiled Monday in Cambodia.
A 72-member delegation headed by Yang Liqun, Deputy-Director of the Publicity Department of the CPC Jiangsu Provincial Committee, was in Cambodia for the Culture Week to boost bilateral ties with a series of cultural activities, including exhibitions, seminars and theatrical performances.
Yang Liqun, Deputy-Director of the Publicity Department of the CPC Jiangsu Provincial Committee, delivers a speech at the opening ceremony.
Yang Liqun, in his opening remarks, said: “As a Cambodian saying goes, trust is like trees. The friendship between China and Cambodia has been tested by the changes of both time and international relations. The tree of our friendship is always thriving.”
“This time we came to Cambodia to hold the Jiangsu Culture Week in response to the country’s Belt and Road Initiative in a bid to exert our utmost efforts to strengthen cultural exchanges and people-to-people exchanges between China and Cambodia,” said Yang.
Wang Wentian, the Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia, said: “The Jiangsu Culture Week is one of the most important events that are slated for the China-Cambodia Year of Culture and Tourism. And it is also the first of its kind in the China-Cambodia Year of Culture and Tourism.”
“The Jiangsu Culture Week will play an important role in promoting the cultural exchange and friendship between the two countries," said the Ambassador.
The delegation will visit Thailand later this week.
So what were the activities held at the opening ceremony? Let’s find out!
Dance Drama Nanguo Hongdou
Dance Drama Nanguo Hongdou (Red Bean in the Southern Land) is absolutely one of the highlights of the Culture Week. The drama, which was performed at the opening ceremony on Monday, was based on a true transnational love story that happened in Cambodia’s Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone.
Intangible Cultural Heritages from Wuxi
The intangible cultural heritages from Wuxi stole the limelight at the opening ceremony. This time, the delegation brought the best and most exquisite heritages from Wuxi to Cambodia, including Huishan clay figurines, bamboo carvings, paper horses, embroidery, calligraphy, and paper-cuts.
The inheritor of Wuxi Paper Horse Tao Xiaomeng displays her works.
A Cambodian visitor said: “Her work is so wonderful that I appreciate it so much. I have never got a chance to go to Wuxi. And I am looking forward to be there."
Photo Exhibition “Encounter Wuxi”
The photo exhibition “Encounter Wuxi”, which was also held on Monday, presents the visitors with Wuxi’s cultural features and achievements in the past 40 years.
Other activities to be held in the coming week include exchange of gifts, dialogues among media groups, and the award ceremony of the 2nd Jiangsu International Youth Painting Competition.
