“Ｂｅｉｊｉｎｇ Ａｆｔｅｒ ｔｈｅ Ｏｌｙｍｐｉｃｓ”Ｄｅｌｅｇａｔｉｏｎ Ｆｒｏｍ Ｎｕｒｅｍｂｅｒｇ，Ｇｅｒｍａｎｙ Ｖｉｓｉｔｓ Ｃｈｉｎａ

At the invitation of the CPAFFC， a 25-member delegation “Beijing after the Olympics” from Nuremberg， Germany led by Dr. Peter William Schonlein， president of the Olympic Committee of the Administrative Region of Middle Franconia， paid a goodwill visit to Beijing from April 9 to 16.

Dr. Schonlein was elected mayor of Nuremberg respectively in 1987 and 1990. During his term， Nuremberg and Shenzhen established friendship-city ties. Since his term of office ended he has served as president of the Olympic Committee of the Administrative Region of Middle Franconia and president of a number of associations and important foundations， and made active efforts to promote cultural exchanges in the region. Dr. Yan Xu-Lankner， deputy head of the delegation， is dean of Confucius Institute at the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg， and is enthusiastic in promoting cultural and educational exchanges between Germany and China. Other members of the delegation came from the political， economic， cultural， art and media circles of Nuremberg.

Carrying out exchanges and promoting cooperation. During the meeting with CPAFFC Vice President Jing Dunquan， Dr. Schonlein expressed his sincere congratulations on the success of the Beijing Olympic Games and thanks to the CPAFFC for inviting him and his delegation to visit China. He hoped to establish a long term relationship with the CPAFFC to carry out cultural and educational exchanges. At the China National Office of the Chinese Language Council International (Hanban)， Deputy Director Zhao Guocheng briefed the delegation on the development and future work of Confucius Institutes in various countries and fully affirmed the work done by the Confucius Institute at the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. At the Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU)， Sun You- zhong， assistant president of the university， said the BFSU is willing to conduct exchanges and cooperation with Confucius Institute at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg， the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and other educational institutions. In the audio-visual auditorium Dr. Schonlein gave a lecture “Introduction of Nuremberg through Pictures” with the audio-visual aids， presenting a vivid account of the culture and history of Nuremberg and Germany.

Learning about Chinese culture and witnessing the post-Olympics development in Beijing. Most of the members of the delegation visited China for the first time. They were very much interested in Chinese culture， but only had limited knowledge about the current development in China. During their stay in Beijing， through visits to many places， they saw for themselves the urban development and improvement of environment in Beijing after the Olympics. At the Chinese Culture Experience Centre of the Hanban， they took part in the activities in high spirits， experiencing first-hand the charms of Chinese culture represented by traditional operas， paintings， musical instruments， and arts and crafts. Through the visit they gained a better understanding of the rich and profound Chinese culture and the current social development of the country.

The delegation visited the National Stadium (Bird’s Nest) and the National Indoor Stadium and had talks with Xu Da， former director of the Media and Communications Department of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG)， and vice president of the Beijing Administrative College. When Dr. Schonlein and Xu Da recalled the activity “Olympic Games Forum” held in the Nuremberg City Hall in July 2008 to publicize the Beijing Olympic Games， all sorts of feelings welled up in their minds. After watching a summary documentary about the Beijing Olympic Games， the members of the delegation raised questions about hot issues such as post-Games Olympic venue utilization， the construction of the Beijing Olympic venues and transformation of the old city， environmental protection and changes in traffic regulations before and after the Olympic Games， etc.， and got satisfactory answers for all the above questions.

Strengthening substantial cooperation with Chinese local governments. Changping District of Beijing has carried out friendly exchanges with Nuremberg for several years. In Changping the delegation visited the triathlon venue of the Olympic Games at the Ming Tombs Reservoir， the office of Changping eastward expansion and the Changping South Ringroad Bridge newly completed and open to traffic. When meeting with the delegation， Jin Hui， deputy head of Changping District， said that in recent years Changping District and Nuremberg had carried out various forms of exchanges and cooperation and achieved many fruits. Dr. Schonlein expressed his appreciation of the District’s active attitude towards opening up and his full confidence in the bright prospects of the development of the district.