Chinese Tianjin culture wows Russia

A five-day Tianjin Culture Week was held in Russia from July 2 to 6 during the annual Chinese Culture Festival.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A five-day Tianjin Culture Week was held in Russia from July 2 to 6 during the annual Chinese Culture Festival, a key cross-nation culture exchange project between the two countries.

Organized by the culture ministries of both China and Russia, the Chinese embassy to Russia, and Tianjin Municipal People's Government, the festival's opening gala was held at the Central Academic Theatre of the Russian Army in Moscow.

As a key cultural event, the opening presented a series of excellent performances given by artists from Tianjin city before an audience of 1,500. The gala began with a traditional dance, Flowing Gold and Overflowing Color (Yi Cai Liu Jin), a perfect combination of luxurious costumes in Tang Dynasty style and graceful dance movements, creating a strong visual impact. It was followed by acts such as a Chinese Martial Art Display, the acrobatic Ballet on Shoulder (Jian Shang Ba Lei) and Foot Juggling (Deng Ren), fully presenting the beauty of Chinese arts and performance.

One of the highlights was the Peking Opera National Beauty and Heavenly Fragrance (Guo Se Tian Xiang). Its classic aria, The Drunken Concubine (Gui Fei Zui Jiu) showcased the unique charm of Chinese artistic quintessence. Moreover, the folk music show, Oriental Jasmine (Dong Fang Mo Li) combined the Chinese traditional song, Jasmine Flower (Mo Li Hua) and the famed Russian song, Kalinka, creating a special musical effect. The Russian song, Russian Guy, performed by artists from both Tianjin and Russia, brought the gala to a climax, with the audience applauding and singing along to the music.

Tianjin Film Week, as part of the Tianjin Culture Week, was held in Irkutsk city from July 2 to 5. Four Chinese films with Russian translations, Legend of A Rabbit：The Martial of Fire, Lethal Hostage, Fairy Tales and The Floating Shadow , were screened during the four-day event. The unique Chinese cultural element, lively characters and sophisticated plots of the films attracted a slew of viewers.

An exhibition of intangible cultural heritage in Tianjin, China was held at the Saint Petersburg Lenexpo on July 5. This exhibition displayed 12 kinds of handicraft arts particular to Tianjin, including woodcuts from Yang Liuqing town, Lian Shengzhai's embroidery and Zhang’s clay sculptures, with nation-certified ICH inheritors presenting live shows. Those in the audience were invited to try their hand at the crafts.

During the exhibition, organizers embarked on media campaigns to build Tianjin's cultural brand, running a Tianjin promotional film on screens in Russia and handing out Russian versions of tourist brochures.

The exhibition was a part of the China Cultural Festival and Tianjin Cultural Week in Russia, which were supported by the Chinese Embassy in Russia, Chinese Consulate General in Saint Petersburg and Irkutsk. This series of cultural exchange programs was highly praised for demonstrating the cultural charm of Tianjin and China. The government of Saint Petersburg then invited Tianjin to host Chinese New Year celebrations in 2017.