11國首輪“魅力之城”迷人風采揮之不去

□ 文/本刊記者 林涵

11國首輪“魅力之城”迷人風采揮之不去

□ 文/本刊記者 林涵

縱觀中國與東盟的交往史，政治、經(jīng)濟、人文，千絲萬縷，水乳交融。

中國與東盟從未相互走遠。

2000多年前的歷史深處，海上絲綢之路，中國與東南亞之間帆影幢幢，貿(mào)易往來頻繁；

600多年前的鄭和下西洋，所到的爪哇、蘇門答臘、真臘、暹羅等東南亞國家和城市，傳奇至今仍在傳頌；

200多年前大批華人下南洋、在東南亞各個城市寫下的創(chuàng)業(yè)故事，依舊激勵著后來者。

中國與東盟也從未如此親近。

2003年10月，中國與東盟正式簽署了《東南亞友好合作條約》及其兩個修改協(xié)定書，成為東南亞地區(qū)以外第一個加入該條約的大國，翻開了雙方友好往來的新篇章。

2004年，由中國和東盟10國共辦的中國—東盟博覽會，更是拉開了雙方加強政治互信、經(jīng)濟合作、人文交流的盛大帷幕。

2005年，第二屆東博會開始設置“魅力之城”專題，使雙方合作從國家層面進一步延伸到城市層面。合作之志不以山海為遠，城市為媒，架起了中國—東盟雙方民眾深入了解的橋梁。

魅力之城展東盟國家歌舞風情表演

首輪魅城歷歷在目

2005年，作為第二屆東博會的最大亮點之一，“魅力之城”集中展示了中國與東盟最具代表性的城市。

那一屆東博會的“魅力之城”包括了中國的北京、文萊的斯里巴加灣、柬埔寨的暹粒、印度尼西亞的雅加達、老撾的瑯勃拉邦、馬來西亞的布城、緬甸的曼德勒、菲律賓的宿務、新加坡市、泰國的清邁和越南的河內(nèi)。

對于普通老百姓而言，他們也許已經(jīng)無法記住那一屆東博會上中國與東盟國家之間的貿(mào)易成交數(shù)額，但他們一定對當時“魅力之城”接地氣的系列活動記憶猶新，因為這讓他們第一次真正有了“東盟一日游”的感覺。

12年前“魅力之城”啟動的一幕仿佛還在昨日，回憶的鏡頭定格在12年前的東博會“魅力之城”專題展區(qū)上。

文萊的“魅力之城”展位上，展出了文萊的國寶—蘇丹龍輦的1:1復制品，這是目前世界上唯一的一個復制品。這一金碧輝煌、充滿皇家氣息的珍貴的展品，吸引了諸多觀眾的注意，紛紛拍照合影留念；紅色為主色調(diào)的“非常新加坡”展區(qū)內(nèi)，工作人員用漢語與觀展人員交流；濃厚蘭納風格木樓的泰國清邁展區(qū)前，應和著泰國樂器舞動的漂亮姑娘成為眾多觀眾拍照的焦點；開放式的中國北京展區(qū)里，手藝人展示的老北京面人藝術(shù)讓很多東盟國家游客贊嘆不已……在11國家精心挑選出的11個最具特色的“魅力之城”展區(qū)里，游人盡情體味著地域風情的文化。

據(jù)一位布展的工作人員回憶，在那次展會上，東盟各國都把本地區(qū)最具魅力的旅游風光、民俗，通過圖片、畫冊、電視等形式，展現(xiàn)給觀眾。雖然許多觀眾已在媒體的報道上看到了一些圖景，但是當繽紛燦爛的展廳整個呈現(xiàn)在眼前時，觀眾們還是贊嘆不已。“要知道在10多年前，中國和東盟之間的了解是相對欠缺的，許多觀眾第一次在展會上體會到了11個國家的城市風情和魅力，一種想親自到達深入了解的情愫油然而生。”

開啟“東盟旅游熱”之門

目前，旅游業(yè)已成為世界經(jīng)濟發(fā)展最快、最具活力的新興產(chǎn)業(yè)之一，得到各國普遍的重視。

中國國家旅游局提供的數(shù)字顯示，2004年，中國公民首站赴東盟國家旅游人數(shù)為276萬人次，同比增長45%。同時，東盟國家旅華人數(shù)初步統(tǒng)計達299萬人次，同比增長52.6%。

隨著中國與東盟國家之間聯(lián)系的日益加深，近年來中國興起了一波又一波的“東盟旅游熱”，東博會的“魅力之城”展示正在見證和引導著這股熱潮。據(jù)中國官方統(tǒng)計數(shù)據(jù)，2015年中國與東盟互訪人數(shù)達到2364.5萬人次，創(chuàng)歷史新高。其中，中國赴東盟國家游客超過1700萬人次，較上年增長了49.9%。

中國和東盟在東博會上所展示的“魅力之城”，或是有著引人入勝的名勝古跡、獨具風情的人文風俗，或是各國重要的政治、文化、教育的代表城市。所以，相比政治交流、經(jīng)貿(mào)活動而言，東博會的“魅力之城”在傳播文化交流方面，起到了更為直接的作用。

往屆東博會“魅力之城”文萊展區(qū)

12年來，那些曾經(jīng)在東博會“魅力之城”展上的東盟國家陌生城市，打開了人們對該城市的認知之門，也吸引了許多人親自到達，留下了美好的回憶，成為了兩國人民之間相互了解最接地氣的載體。承載著國家間民心的交流，打開了中國和東盟各國間的多贏之門，12年來鍛造成了中國—東盟文化交流的一把“金鑰匙”。

“魅力之城”開花結(jié)果

12年一個輪回。自第二屆東博會推出“魅力之城”專題起，通過綜合展示各國城市在旅游、文化、教育、科技等方面的合作商機，迅速成為了展會的一大亮點。

那一年的東博會，除了給觀眾帶來11國魅力城市的直觀感受外，11國“魅力城市”還共同發(fā)表了《“中國—東盟魅力之城”宣言》。11個水晶球點亮11根水晶柱，11個行政長官簽上11個魅力城市的名字，也寫下了11國友好交流的新篇章。

《宣言》中表示，第二屆中國—東盟博覽會“魅力之城”代表一致認為，加強互利合作、促進和諧發(fā)展是中國與東盟各國“魅力之城”的共同目標，中國—東盟博覽會為實現(xiàn)這一目標提供了良好平臺。《宣言》中還提到，“魅力之城”將積極參與中國—東盟博覽會，促進相互間政府、商協(xié)會、企業(yè)的廣泛交流與合作，以實際行動推動中國—東盟自由貿(mào)易區(qū)建設，為本區(qū)域的繁榮發(fā)展和人民的福祉共同努力。

在以往13屆東博會中，11國共展示了120余個（次）中國—東盟“魅力之城”。“魅力之城”專題展已成為中國和東盟各國城市展示商機和特色的良好平臺，深化了中國與東盟的合作，使雙方合作從國家層面進一步延伸到城市層面。

如今，12年前的中國—東盟11個城市的那一次聚首，成為了一項創(chuàng)舉、一個各國合作交流的新載體。當年11個城市共同描繪的合作藍圖和目標，正一一得到實現(xiàn)。城市與城市間的交流潛移默化，城市與城市之間的故事潤物無聲，城市與城市之間的務實合作在東博會上開花結(jié)果。

·聯(lián)系編輯：381428648@qq.com

A review of the history of China-ASEAN exchanges shows that the two sides have long been associated with each other in terms of politics, economy and people-to-people exchanges:

a) China began to be linked with Southeast Asian countries through the ancient Maritime Silk Road as early as over 2,000 years ago, when trade contacts between the two sides were frequent.

b) In the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD) more than 600 years ago, a great Chinese navigator called Zheng He once led his vessels to travel through places in Southeast Asian countries, including Java, Sumatra, Chenla and Siam. Even now, there are still a collection of much-told stories about him in these areas.

c) About 400 years later, ethnic Chinese flocked to cities in Southeast Asia. Their enterprising spirits are still inspiring the successors to forge ahead.

In recent years, bilateral ties have been promoted to a new level:

a) In October 2003, China officially signed the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) and its two amendments, becoming the f rst great power to join the treaty across the world.

b) In 2004, China and ten ASEAN countries succeeded in holding the 1stChina-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO), laying a solid foundation for bilateral ties in the realms of politics, economy and people-to-people exchanges.

c) In 2005, a mechanism called City of Charm began to be implemented at the 2ndCAEXPO, making the state-level cooperation expanded to the city-level. Thus, the two sides’people are increasingly familiar with each other.

China-ASEAN Cities of Charm in 2005

As for the general public, they may have forgotten the total transaction volume at the 2ndCAEXPO, but they are sure to recall their memories of charming cities — China’s Beijing, Brunei’s Bandar Seri Begawan, Cambodia’s Siem Reap, Indonesia’s Jakarta, Laos’ Luang Prabang, Malaysia’s Putrajaya, Myanmar’s Mandalay, the Philippines’ Cebu, Singapore’s Singapore City, Thailand’s Chiang Mai and Vietnam’s Hanoi.

At the 2ndCAEXPO, all ASEAN countries displayed their most charming tourism scenery and folk customs in the forms of picture, album of painting and TV, which was acclaimed by both the professional visitors and the general public, an on-site staff at that time said.

Tourism craze for ASEAN

In 2004, as revealed by China National Tourism Administration, the number of Chinese tourists choosingASEAN countries as their first destination reached 2.76 million, an increase of 45 percent over the previous year; the number of ASEAN tourists coming to China totaled 2.99 million, a year-on-year increase of 52.6 percent.

As bilateral ties between China and ASEAN continue to strengthen, particularly driven by City of Charm, there is an increasing number of Chinese tourists who are fascinated by ASEAN tourist attractions. In 2015, approximately 23.65 million people engaged in the exchange visits between the two sides, reaching an all-time high; among them, over 17 million Chinese tourists travelled to ASEAN, rising by 49.9 percent compared to that of 2014.

Given all this, City of Charm, as a form of cultural exchanges, exerts a more direct impact on the enhancement of bilateral ties than political and economic events.

Positive results by City of Charm

After 12 years of development, City of Charm has promptly developed into one of the highlights of CAEXPO by promoting business opportunities among cities in the China-ASEAN region, especially in the felds of tourism, culture, education, as well as science and technologies.

At the 2ndCAEXPO, all Cities of Charm agreed to issue China-ASEAN City of Charm Declaration, specifying that the mechanism is aimed at promoting mutually-beneficial cooperation and harmonious development; meanwhile, Cities of Charm in the China-ASEAN region will positively get involved in the CAEXPO-themed activities, so as to enhance the exchanges and cooperation between governments, associations of business and enterprises in the region and to advance the building of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area.

During the previous 13 CAEXPOs, over 120 Cities of Charm in the China-ASEAN region have made their appearance. To date, City of Charm as a special exhibition has been regarded by China-ASEAN cities as a favorable featured platform for business opportunities, thus elevating cooperation between China and ASEAN from the state-level to the city-level.

City of Charm: An Eye-catching Featured Mechanism Under China-ASEAN Expo

Written by Lin Han / Translated by Xu Zhiliang

Brilliant performances during the City of Charm Exhibition