A rich tapestry of cultures

BEIJING, Sept. 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- A report from China Daily

Gansu province in Northwest China once again stands on an important stage as the eighth Silk Road (Dunhuang) International Cultural Expo is to be held in Dunhuang city from Saturday to Monday. As a comprehensive international expo themed around cultural exchange and cooperation within the Belt and Road Initiative, the event has facilitated BRI co-development, promoted Dunhuang culture and increased Chinese cultural influence.

He Xiaozu, director of the Gansu provincial culture and tourism department, said: "Gansu has successively held seven sessions of the Dunhuang cultural expo. Nearly 10,000 guests from more than 120 countries and regions have participated in the event, which featured a series of cultural exchange activities such as forums, exhibitions, and performances. It has played an important role in promoting cultural integration, thought exchange and emotional connection among people of the countries and regions involved in the BRI, and also in telling China's stories well and expanding the influence of Chinese traditional culture."

This year's expo has invited more than 1,000 domestic and foreign guests to participate and will organize 17 activities across seven categories, such as meetings and talks, cultural exhibitions, art performances and investment promotions. The 2025 Dunhuang Forum will take place concurrently, comprising six types of forums and 12 thematic activities.

The exhibition at this year's expo will cover a total area of about 24,000 square meters, showcasing the latest achievements in world cultural heritage preservation and Dunhuang studies. It will also feature arts, intangible cultural heritage innovations and local customs from countries involved in the BRI, while highlighting the results of Gansu's efforts in intangible cultural heritage protection and new cultural and creative products.

Historical heritage

Gansu has a rich historical and cultural heritage and places emphasis on the protection of it. The province supports Dunhuang Academy in becoming a model for world cultural heritage protection and a leading center for Dunhuang studies. The province also promotes the deep integration of culture and tourism, aiming to develop the cultural tourism industry into a pillar sector.

In the vast land of Gansu, there are UNESCO world cultural heritage sites such as Mogao Grottoes, one of the top 10 archaeological discoveries recognized by Archaeology magazine in the US in 2019, a total of 16,895 immovable relics, and three national archaeological site parks. It also boasts 8,809 representative items and 13,049 representative inheritors of intangible cultural heritage at different levels.

It has always given priorities to the protection of cultural heritage and advanced the utilization and inheritance of such heritage.

The fifth batch of 285 provincial-level intangible cultural heritage representative projects was announced in late 2024. A brick-carving workshop in the Linxia Hui autonomous prefecture was recognized as a national-level intangible cultural heritage productive protection demonstration center in March 2024.

The province has continuously implemented a training plan for inheritors of intangible cultural heritage, with 16 people selected for the sixth batch of national-level inheritors and nine included in the first national list for "youth intangible cultural heritage video creation".

These remarkable achievements collectively depict a vibrant picture of the inheritance and development of intangible cultural heritage in Gansu, showcasing the region's unique charm.

The province has used eight cultural brands as a tool to craft a cultural matrix that enhances the influence of Gansu's culture. Among the brands are the ceremony of worshiping Fuxi, one of China's legendary ancestors, the Dunhuang cultural expo, Siku Quanshu (Complete Library in Four Sections), the magazine Duzhe (Readers), a dance drama named Flower Rain on the Silk Road and a documentary called Hexi Corridor.

The 2025 ceremony in tribute to Fuxi captured the attention of Chinese people at home and abroad. People gathered in Tianshui city, commemorating the cultural ancestor in a solemn atmosphere, and strengthened their cultural identity.

The Wensu Pavilion duplicate of Siku Quanshu, a comprehensive collection of Chinese traditional culture, has been preserved intact after centuries. Now, the second phase of its digital photocopying publication project has completed, obtaining data files that meet the standards for photocopying and database construction and can be developed and utilized in multiple forms.

Young people are a critical baton in the "relay race" of cultural inheritance. A subsidiary of Duzhe Publishing and Media Corp published a children's story and several books for young students' urban study tours, which conveyed traditional culture and contributed to the development of Gansu into a culturally strong province.

A new version of the classic dance drama Flower Rain on the Silk Road was staged recently. The creative team integrated more modern artistic expressions while retaining those ingrained classic elements, offering the audience a new visual feast.

The launch of the 4K ultrahigh-definition version of Hexi Corridor has again brought this documentary into the spotlight, allowing more people to fall in love with this magical land. With solid steps in cultural relic protection, the continuous inheritance of intangible cultural heritage, and the development of cultural brands, Gansu's cultural development is advancing toward new heights and writing a chapter of inheritance and innovation in the new era.

The province has boosted cultural relics survey work, gaining a thorough understanding of its cultural resources. It completed a field investigation of the fourth national cultural relics survey, discovering 4,576 new cultural relic clues. Additionally, the construction of the Hexi Corridor national heritage route, the Jiayu Pass Great Wall national cultural relics protection and utilization demonstration area, and some national archaeological site parks are steadily progressing.

This series of work is making the network of cultural heritage protection in Gansu increasingly dense, which allows ancient cultures to have enduring vitality in the new era.

Art blooms

In recent years, Gansu's artistic stage has seen many excellent works, laying a foundation for the development of a culturally strong province through quality creations.

The new play, whose name can be translated as The Light of Hadapu, is set when the Red Army's Long March passed through Hadapu, Gansu in 1935, showcasing the spirit of the Long March through a blend of characters and historical moments.

Since its premiere, it has received enthusiastic audience responses and helped promote the Red culture. It was selected as a participating play in the ongoing 19th China Theatre Festival, showcasing the charm of Gansu's Red culture on a national stage.

The large-scale historical documentary, whose name can be translated as Zuo Zongtang Recovers Xinjiang, is another masterpiece. It is centered on the 1870s historical event in which Zuo Zongtang led the army of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) to recover Xinjiang and consolidate the northwestern borderland. The documentary artistically recreates the heroic deeds of Qing Dynasty soldiers who fought to defend national territorial integrity in challenging conditions through different scenes.

Meanwhile, key productions including an acrobatic drama, a musical, and a play are being created and rehearsed, continuing to interpret regional charm and the spirit of the times, enriching the artistic matrix of Gansu.

The inheritance and revival of classic dramas has also helped develop Gansu into a culturally strong province. A Long Opera piece, based on the story of a fisherwoman who avenges her father's death in the late Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220), showcases the unique artistic charm of Long Opera through classic scenes.

Since its premiere in 1959, it has been performed more than 3,000 times, with 10 million audience views. Since its inclusion in the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's key traditional (classic) drama revival plan in 2024, young actors and actresses, under the guidance of influential artists Lei Tongxia and Dou Fengxia, have honed their singing and choreography, making the classic more in line with modern aesthetic needs while preserving the essence of the original play.

Also, the "Sightseeing Gansu with the Pace of Art" series of activities has benefited local people and helped develop a culturally strong province. An intangible cultural heritage costume display event, together with a model contest featuring Tibetan costumes, was held in a scenic area in the Gannan Tibetan autonomous prefecture in July.

At the Mars Base 1 in Jinchang city, music carnival activities provided the audience with a show that blended rock and rap in August. The banks of the Yellow River were equally lively recently, with 13 cultural performances held, offering art forms such as song and dance as well as acrobatics.

From quality creations and classic inheritance to art exhibitions, performances and cultural activities that benefit the public, Gansu uses art as a brush to paint a picture of itself building into a culturally strong province, allowing the charm of its culture to bloom in the new era.

Public services

Gansu has built 104 public libraries, 106 cultural halls, 59 art galleries, 1,354 comprehensive cultural stations in towns (subdistricts), and 17,114 comprehensive cultural service centers in villages (communities). It has created three national public cultural service system demonstration zones and built 262 museums.

This series of cultural facilities covering urban and rural areas, quality services, and a nationally leading museum density helps showcase Gansu's profound cultural background.

This summer, the Gansu Provincial Museum offered visitors temporary exhibitions such as European knight armor and culture and an immersive experience of cave art. At the memorial hall of the Eighth Route Army's Lanzhou office, a thematic exhibition on the northwestern international transportation line during the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) attracted numerous visitors, revisiting the arduous years through precious relics and detailed historical materials.

From cities to villages, public cultural services are continuously expanding, allowing members of the public to access quality cultural resources.

In the first half of 2025, Gansu launched 11,136 cultural activities, including performances, live broadcasts and lectures. Among them were 3,442 Spring Festival-themed public cultural activities, 5,898 sessions that brought opera to the countryside and 1,032 events on public reading.

While promoting cultural benefits for the people, Gansu also focuses on high-quality cultural tourism development, building a domestically and internationally influential tourist destination and creating a nationally important cultural protection and inheritance center.

It advances key tasks such as the construction of the Yellow River cultural tourism belt; the creation of the Hexi Corridor national heritage route; the protection, inheritance and use of cultural and natural heritage; and the revitalization and utilization of historical and cultural heritage in traditional villages. Gansu hopes to accelerate its transformation from a province rich in cultural and tourism resources to a strong cultural and tourism province, continuously converting cultural superiority into development advantages.

Culture is a bond that connects people. Gansu uses cultural services to deepen exchanges and integration among various ethnic groups, making it an important vehicle for forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation.

This year, Gansu organized song and dance performances and opera beloved by the public to convey a message of national unity. In 11 A-level scenic areas, there are 24 "check-in" points featuring Chinese cultural symbols.

SOURCE China Daily