A four-month-long world cultural and natural heritage exposition
opened Saturday in northeast China's Liaoning Province, as one of the events held
nationwide to arouse people's awareness of cultural heritage
protection.
The expo, held in Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning, showcases
33Chinese and 57 foreign World Heritage sites by means of pictures,
videos, models and films, with an exhibition area of 30,000 square
meters.
Models carrying replicas of
world cultural heritages over their heads perform at the World
Cultural and Natural Heritage Exposition in Shenyang, Liaoning
Province June 9.
Forums, lectures and performances of folk arts will also be held
to mark the country's Second Cultural Heritage Day, which fell on
Saturday to promote public awareness of the preservation of
cultural diversity and heritage protection, according to expo
organizers.
"The expo is most interesting and is in line with one of the
principal priorities of UNESCO: the safeguarding and protection of
world heritage," said UNESCO Secretary-General Koichiro Matsuura at
the opening ceremony.
"It will be a welcome opportunity to educate a wide public on
world heritage conservation," he said.
Chinese State Councilor Chen Zhili also attended the ceremony.
The expo will last until October 9.
China has currently a total of 33 sites inscribed in the World Heritage List
of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO), including the Great Wall and the Sichuan
Giant Panda Sanctuaries.
And in Beijing, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited an exhibition
of intangible cultural heritage in Beijing on Saturday, China's
second "Cultural Heritage Day".
During his visit, Wen was particularly interested in live
performances -- paper-cutting, shadow play and the making of
Chinese new year paintings -- all by masters of these folk
arts.
"The reason why such legacies have passed on for hundreds or
even thousands of years is that they carry the spirit of the
Chinese nation," Wen said at the exhibition, held in the China
Millennium Monument.
"We should not only preserve such cultural legacy, but also pass
them on and make innovations so that they can last," Wen said,
adding we should also learn from cultures of other nations.
Li Changchun, a member of the Standing Committee of the
Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee,
also visited the exhibition on Saturday.
China's "Cultural Heritage Day" falls on the second Saturday of
June every year. It was established last year by the Chinese
government to step up protection of fine traditional Chinese
culture.
(Xinhua News Agency June 10, 2007)
