CULTURE

The Railway to Tibet

National Center for the Performing Arts & Beijing Dance Drama & Opera Date: October 27-30, 2022 Venue: National Center for the Performing Arts

Featuring elements of Tibetan dance, it tells a story of friendship between local Tibetans and the soldiers involved in the laying of the rail tracks during the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway back in the 1970s. Founded in 1978 and restructured into an enterprise in 2004, the Beijing Dance Drama & Opera is Beijing’s only professional song and dance performance troupe administrated by the Municipal People’s Government of Beijing, specializing in the creation and performance of stage arts.

The Red Detachment of Women

National Ballet of China Date: November 08, 2022 Venue: National Center for the Performing Arts

This musical is set in Hainan Island, China in the 1930s. It tells a story about Qionghua, a maidservant who has escaped from a despot’s mansion. Born as a peasant girl, she has endured much bitterness and has transformed by her experiences into a determined revolutionary soldier. The National Ballet of China was founded in December of 1959. Performing both Western ballets and original works of its own, the company has found a successful path for the development of Chinese ballet. It is fusing the classical and the modern, and exploring cultures from all over the world.

Zurich Film Festival Shines Spotlight on Chinese Movies

The 18th Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) in Switzerland zoomed in on filmmakers and movies from Hong Kong, with a selection of unique screenings highlighting China’s booming film market and promoting cultural exchange between the East and West.

“Asia is one of the engines of the movie business. China has overtaken the U.S. as the premium market worldwide,” said ZFF’s artistic director Christian Jungen.

This year’s festival took place from September 22 to October 2 and presented 146 films, including a record 38 world and European premieres. ZFF is the largest autumn film festival in the German-speaking world. Last year, it attracted over 100,000 spectators and thousands of accredited film and media professionals.

This year’s program features a “Hong Kong Window” of new films and classics. “I have been to Hong Kong many times and it’s one of the most exciting film hubs in Asia,” said Jungen. “It’s a bridge between the East and West. They make films which are Asian Chinese, but at the same time also very appealing to our Zurich-based or Western audience,” he said. “Chinese cinema really opens a window for us to this massive country with its own long history and culture,” he noted.

Films are often the first point of inspiration for people to visit a place, he added. “Therefore, it’s also important to have Chinese films.”

ON CHINESE MEDIA

Advancing Law-Based Governance to a New Stage

Outlook Weekly Issue 39, 2022

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2012, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has been advancing the law-based governance and incorporated it into the overall national strategy. The Chinese system of socialist rule of law has continuously been improved. Solid progress has also been made in building the rule of law in China, which is playing a more effective role in buttressing the foundation of the country’s governance and development, and stabilizing expectations, for the long-term benefit.

Elderly and Child Care Bring Happiness to Millions of Families

Minsheng Weekly Issue 20, 2022

Over the past decade, all localities have focused on the elderly and child care in an efforts to promote the long-term and balanced development of the population. A series of warm-hearted measures have woven a dense net of social security, bringing people a strong sense of happiness.

Effective Promotion of Domestic Consumption

Oriental Outlook Issue 19, 2022

With the continual promotion of stable consumption growth by the national and local governments, many positive changes have been taking place in the domestic market. The recovery of domestic supply chains has been pacing up. Urban business districts are again vibrant with economic activities of all modes.

Cultural Center Promotes Yellow River Culture in Copenhagen

The 2022 China Tourism and Cultural Week, themed around the Yellow River, was held in Copenhagen, Denmark, on September 15.

Zheng Wen, director of the China Cultural Center in Copenhagen, addressed the event. He explained the Yellow River’s role in Chinese civilization as a symbol of national spirit.

The activity featured a piano solo performance of the story,Yellow River, and a documentary on the river.

Local specialties from the Yellow River area, such as Biang Biang noodles (oil-splashing pulled noodles with minced pork) and handicrafts were introduced to the attending guests.

Four More Chinese Irrigation Projects Designated World Heritage Structures

Four more ancient Chinese irrigation sites have been recognized as World Heritage Irrigation Structures (WHIS), according to the Ministry of Water Resources.

Granted by the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) on October 6, the inclusions of the Tongjiyan Irrigation System, the Xinghua Duotian Irrigation and Drainage System, the Songgu Irrigation Scheme, and the Chongyi Shangbao Terraces have brought the total number of Chinese rrigation projects on the WHIS list to 30.

“China, among all countries, has the most diverse types of heritage irrigation projects with the widest distribution and the best irrigation benefits,” said Chen Mingzhong, an official with the water resources ministry.

With its headwork located at the confluence of three rivers in Chengdu City in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, the Tongjiyan Irrigation System has the largest and longestoperating movable weir in Chinese history. The Xinghua Duotian Irrigation and Drainage System, located in Xinghua City in east China’s Jiangsu Province waters arid uplands with the likes of dykes, channels, and water gates. Located in Songyang County in east China’s Zhejiang Province, the Songgu Irrigation Scheme is an excellent model of ancient irrigation works for small and medium-sized river basins.

With a dense network of weirs, dykes, ditches, and channels, drawing water from a local stream, the irrigation system now spans an irrigated area of about 11,000 hectares. The Chongyi Shangbao Terraces cover an area of about 3,400 hectares in the mountainous region of Chongyi County in southeast China’s Jiangxi Province. Built on steep slopes during the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and perfected during the Ming and Qing dynasties, the terraces have sound irrigation and ecological systems.

It is important to present the history and culture of Chinese irrigation works, and study their science, technology, cultural value, as well as the ways they have been managed, Chen said, noting that this will help the country’s efforts to advance rural revitalization, ecological protection, and sustainable water resource utilization.