WENHZOU YOUTHTALK, which is a cultural project launched in March 2021 at Wenzhou Overseas Media Center, held an event titled with “International Communication on China’s Aesthetics of Life”at Wenzhou Qingdeng Stone-carving Art Museum yesterday.

The event was sponsored by Wenzhou People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, and organized by Wenzhou Overseas Media Center and Wenzhou Qingdeng Stone-carving Art Museum. During the event, 18 young Chinese and foreign friends from 13 countries visited Qingdeng Stone-carving Art Museum under the guidance of curator Zhang Jincheng, to explore the past and present life of stone-carving art, and to feel its historical memories. After the tour, a salon was held on the ground floor of the museum.

Curator Zhang Jincheng gave a welcome address and highlighted Qingdeng Bazaar, which is an annual 6-day event that takes place in spring and autumn. This bazaar has attracted over 1,500 traditional craftsmen and visitors from all over China to Wenzhou, and has received over 120 million hits on the internet, making it an important cultural IP in Wenzhou. Mr. Zhang hoped that more people from different countries could participate in Qingdeng Bazaar, carrying out cultural exchange.

In the subsequent speech, Kimberly, an associate professor from Wenzhou University, talked about the charm of Chinese architecture, and praised China’s continuous exploration on environment-friendliness of building in recent years. She plans to contribute to the globalization of Chinese culture through writing a series of books on the history and culture of Wenzhou. She urged foreigners to share their personal life and experiences on social media, participate in cultural exchange and volunteering activities, for promoting the international communication on China’s aesthetics of life.

Mahtab, who is from Iran, now is a post-doctoral fellow from the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University. She is an art enthusiast and has travelled to many countries. In the salon, she spoke about the impact of Chinese pottery and porcelain on Middle East art, and hoped that the artistic value of Chinese pottery and porcelain could be further developed.

Percy, a foreign teacher from Wenzhou Kean University, shared his appreciation of Chinese pop music as a multilingual singer. He said that this kind of music is so catchy and fascinates him very much. That’s one of the motivations for him to learn Chinese.

In the free communication and interaction, they have a lively discussion on several topics as "My Impressions of China’s Aesthetics of Life", "Promotion of International Communication on China’s Aesthetics of Life" and so on.

Extended reading

The project “Wenzhou Youthtalk”, which is sponsored by Wenzhou People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, was launched in March, 2021 at Wenzhou Overseas Media Center. Through carrying out series of cultural exchanges, it attracts global talents to create a more open, tolerant and generous image of Wenzhou as an internationalized city, improving the city’s international services, and providing intelligence support for Wenzhou’s ongoing development.