Chinese cultural exhibition held in Kathmandu

An exhibition, jointly organized by the China Cultural Center in Nepal and Tianjin Municipal Administration of Culture, Radio, Film and Television of Tianjin (TMACRFT), was held in Kathmandu on June 22 to display cultural heritages of Tianjin, as part of a cultural program.

Newly elected Mayor of Kathmandu Bidhya Sundar Shakya and Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Yu Hong jointly inaugurated the program by lighting traditional Nepali candle known as "panas."

The program was staged at the heart of Kathmandu, with a banquet attended by local lawmakers, foreign diplomats, academicians, media representatives and students. The cultural delegation from Tianjin comprised 10 artists led by the deputy director of TMACRFT Xu Henqiu.

Tianjin has developed a unique style as a center of Chinese and Western civilizations over hundreds of years. With long history, profound cultural heritage and advantageous geographical location, it has given birth to a long-standing, colorful and distinctive national and folk culture.

The city is honored as birthplace of Pingju, an opera form based on folk songs and dance (Yangge). It also has a variety of folk arts like Yangliuqing wood engraving pictures and Master Zhang's painted sculpture, making it one of the representative regions for intangible cultural heritage in China.

The purpose of the Kathmandu program was to show Chinese people's longing for and pursuit of a better life. Meng Yongquan, member of Tianjin Arts and Crafts Guild and also a guest professor at Tianjin Arts and Crafts Professional College, was busy at the venue carving delicate patterns on eggs with tools such as delicate knives and a drill to create embossment or hollow engraving.

Wang Peng, a disciple of the senior artist Zhao Lianbin, displayed his artistic skills on filigree, which has a history of over 2,000 years beginning from the Han Dynasty. He has also designed and fabricated a series of special jewelry pieces in the shape of animals, plants and figures.

Wang Jing, successor of the ancient Chinese knot button skill, showed a fascinated audience the beauty of this particular art form.

The exhibition also included block-printed Chinese New Year pictures by Ma Yang, papercuts by Hao Guifen, ship models by Tian Xia and Thumb Monkeys by Ren Jinsheng.

Attendees were also attracted by Master Zhang's painted clay sculpture introduced by Song Xiaomei, while Wang Di and Wu Mingsong exhibited their art in dough modeling and wood carving.

Speaking at the function, Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolis Bidhya Sundar Shakya appreciated the best efforts of the Chinese government in the preservation and promotion of Chinese intangible cultural heritage.

He said: "Kathmandu metropolis is also unique in terms of intangible cultural heritage. Each week, we have at least one festival to celebrate in the Kathmandu valley. We would like to cooperate with the Chinese government and learn from its experience in preservation. "

Xu Henqiu, the deputy director of TMACRFT was quite happy to have the opportunity to visit Nepal.

He said: "Nepal is a highly important country in the strategy of cultural development along the Belt and Road Initiatives. Our administration is glad to show the first session of the program beginning with the beautiful country - Nepal."

Ambassador Yu Hong mentioned China has been celebrating the second Saturday of June as a "Cultural and Natural Heritage Day." She also thanked the cultural delegation from Tianjin for its marvelous exhibitions.

"We are always enthusiastic to cooperate with Nepal to share the experience in the preservation of cultural heritages, "she added.

The Chairman of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee Dor Prasad Upadhyaya was cheerful while visiting several stalls. He was at the venue with other parliament members, Santu Darai, Kalpana Dong, Lal Bahadur Gurung and Amrita Thapa Magar. Suresh Ale Magar, a member of the international relations committee of the Communist Party of Nepal - Maoist Centre, was also overjoyed to observe the wood carving with Tianjin characteristics - the combination of circular carving and multi-storey hollow wood carving.

Najir Hussain, the director of Flytech Airhostess Training Institute, was also at the exhibition site with more than 30 students in their professional attire. He explained, "We have encouraged our students to observe Chinese and other foreign cultural shows so they can be familiar with their features and help to develop closer acquaintance with our foreign airline passengers."

More than 300 observers were at the exhibition site. Yin Kunsong, the director of China Cultural Center in Nepal, welcomed them all by expressing pleasure they had enthusiastically accepted the center's invitation to understand Chinese cultural heritages.