Alabama puts spotlight on China in 2015

As the nation's oldest cultural education organization, the Birmingham International Center has helped the city and state of Alabama gain greater cultural understanding. This year, the center's spotlight country is China.

Founded in 1951, the Birmingham International Center (BIC) is a resource for international business education, intercultural training, heritage and arts programming. Each year, the center spotlights a country that will be showcased to Alabama schools, businesses, and communities.

"We take a three-pronged approach that involves culture, education and economic development," Iris Gross, the BIC's executive director told China Daily in an interview on Monday. "We selected China as our spotlight country because of the growing Chinese community and hundreds of Chinese students studying at Alabama colleges and universities across the state."

US Census data estimated that about 1.3 percent of Alabama's 4.8 million people in 2013 were of Asian descent, an increase of 70 percent from the 2000 Census. City-data.com estimated that the number of people of Chinese ancestry living in Alabama in the year 2000 was 6,337, up from 3,529 in 1990.

Gross said the cultural program will present Birmingham and Alabama with a window into China's visual and performing arts. "For education, we will provide the children and teachers with an opportunity to learn about the history and culture of China," Gross said. "We reach about 25,000 children in Alabama every year."

BIC will host an ambassador's dinner on Jan 22 featuring the Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai. The entertainment at the dinner will be by Forbidden City Chamber Orchestra and Jasmine Flower Dance Group.

"In our discussions with the Chinese ambassador to the US, he has said how impressed he has been by the level of commercial, cultural and educational collaboration in Alabama for the Spotlight on China," noted Gross.

"This is a very big event for the Chinese community in Birmingham and Alabama," said Harry He, president of the Chinese American Business Association of Birmingham. "The Chinese community is growing here."

paulwelitzkin@chinadailyusa.com