Tour helps perpetuate former official's dream

UN visitors enjoy two-week trip, taking in the sights of China

Former United Nations official Soad Mansour says she will always dream about visiting China, even though she has visited the country 13 times so far.

"People from the UN all like China very much. It is good that we can visit China and talk to locals," Mansour, former head of special projects under the director of the news and media division of the UN, says in fluent Chinese in Beijing.

"I come from Egypt. China and Egypt both have a long history and splendid culture. I have to come to China from time to time."

Mansour and a group of staff members from 26 organizations under the UN are on a two-week tour of Beijing and Shanghai, many of them for the first time, to experience the culture, economic development and everyday life of China.

In addition to visiting historical cultural heritage sites, including the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, they will also visit Zhongguancun Science Park, China's Silicon Valley, to witness the nation's latest digital developments, and will meet with Chinese entrepreneurs to discuss the economic development of China.

A concert by folk musicians gave them a chance to appreciate a variety of China's folk music, and the visitors also learned how to make Beijing's most famous dish, Peking roast duck.

This was the second time that UN staff members had a Chinese culture tour. Last year, the tour went to Wuxi, Jiangsu province.

Pang Yuliang, chairman of Beijing-based LinkGlobal International Logistics Group, says the UN is a great platform for promoting cultural and economic exchanges between nations.

He says that, apart from China's scenery and culture, most of the UN staff members he met are very interested in the rapid development of China's e-commerce, as well the country's cross-border trade.

"Experiencing China's culture will help them to understand China and Chinese people," he says. "And on the basis of cultural understanding, they will also help to promote China's economic exchanges and cooperation with the rest of the world."

chenyingqun@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 07/28/2017 page3)