Suzhou, a historical and cultural hub in East China’s Jiangsu province, is attracting a large number of tourists from home and abroad by hosting the sixth Jiangnan Culture and Arts & International Tourism Festival from April to June.
This year’s festival mainly focuses on creating characteristic trademarks featuring the ancient culture of Suzhou, the city’s image and reputation, and other aspects to develop the brand of Jiangnan culture.
Also, with a richer variety of cultural and tourism activities, it aims to better meet the spiritual and cultural needs of the people. On April 25, the festival opened with a concert themed around joy and harmony held at the Suzhou Culture and Arts Centre.
This year, the two-month-long event has planned a series of diverse and exciting activities. They cover such sectors as traditional opera and drama performances; garden culture and local cuisine; silk and intangible cultural heritage; film; photography; calligraphy; literature; poetry; academic research and cultural exchanges.
Compared to previous sessions, this year’s festival emphasizes enhancing cultural exchanges and mutual learning. It promotes the domestic and international exchanges of representative cultural elements in the Jiangnan region — the areas south of the Yangtze River — and helps overseas programs perform in Suzhou. During the festival, people in the city can enjoy Russian dance performances, a British suspense drama series, French and Italian concerts, and children’s plays from Japan.
Meanwhile, the “Meet Suzhou in Singapore” Culture Week, another part of the festival, has enhanced Suzhou’s international visibility and reputation by displaying garden culture, film and television, and local cuisine in Singapore and Malaysia.
Cultural events from Taiwan, Macao and Guangdong’s Chaozhou city will also be performed in Suzhou during the festival, in a bid to boost integration via cultural exchanges and enhance the appeal of Chinese culture.
Online activities, such as an exhibition of photos taken by local residents and large-scale live broadcasts featuring various regions and diverse characters, will be launched to empower Suzhou’s culture and tourism.
This year’s festival delves into intangible cultural heritage to integrate traditional culture into modern life. It also highlights young people’s needs for experiential and immersive cultural programs, attracting them with light and shadow art shows, pioneering plays and pop concerts.
Continuing its principle of benefiting the people, the festival offers free access to various high-level exhibitions and diverse cultural and tourism activities.
Source: China Daily, by Hao Nan