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Chen Yu, an 82-year-old retiree from a local fertilizer factory, listens attentively and takes notes at the reading club in 2019. [PHOTO BY ZHAO XIANGLONG/FOR CHINA DAILY] |
A winter's tale
It was a cold, windy day on Dec 23,2014, when the club held its inaugural meeting. Fu was nervous. She had put out a notice via her WeChat moments, but had no real idea who would show up.
"The bitter wind blew and it was very cold. I was not sure how it would turn out," she recalls. The venue, space at a teahouse, had been given for free by a friend.
And then, 16 people arrived. All from different walks of life, such as government workers, teachers and calligraphers. But all shared a love of books and literature.
"Everyone spoke their mind and shared their thoughts. It was a lively experience," Fu says.
The participants then decided to make it a weekly routine and Fu was elected president of the organization.
Since 2015, the reading club encouraged participants to interpret Shijing, or the Book of Songs, an ancient Chinese collection of poems, also one of the five Confucian classics.
More than 20 club members finished 80 essays that shed light on different aspects of the classic. These were then compiled into a book, which got the attention of Liu Yuqing, vice-president of the China Society for the Study of the Book of Songs, who's also a professor at the School of Language and Literature of Shanxi University, and head of the university's School of Chinese Classics.
Liu wrote the preface for the compilation.
"Fewer people are willing to read Shijing these days. I never dreamed that a group of people such as this would take the initiative to study it and deliver such good work," Liu says.
By the 10th session, Fu had created a WeChat group for club members.
In the discussion panels, everyone, from schoolteachers, business owners to villagers, from teenagers to octogenarians, has had an opportunity to step up to the podium and share their opinions about certain assigned topics. Moreover, there are lectures being held.
"We moved to the teahouse's meeting room to accommodate more people and some had to share a chair or sit on the floor," Fu recalls.
It didn't take long before the teahouse was no longer able to accommodate the volume of members.
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The 15th Chinese Film Festival in Bangkok and the 2020 China-Thailand Film Exchange Week opens at the China Cultural Center in Bangkok on Oct 25, 2020. [Photo provided to Chinaculture.org] |
On Oct 25, the opening ceremony of the 15th Chinese Film Festival in Bangkok and the 2020 China-Thailand Film Exchange Week was held at the China Cultural Center in Bangkok. The event was hosted by the China Cultural Center in Bangkok and received strong support from the Chinese Embassy in Thailand and the Thai Ministry of Culture.
The COVID-19 pandemic doesn't impede the enthusiasm for cultural exchange between China and Thailand. This film festival uses live broadcast to present the opening ceremony and host the "China-Thailand Film Exchange and Cooperation Online Seminar". During the film festival, audiences can use the online platform of the China Cultural Center in Bangkok to watch films online, which greatly increases the global reach of the festival.
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Gu Hongxing, director of the China Cultural Center in Bangkok and China Tourism Office in Bangkok, speaks at the opening ceremony. [Photo provided to Chinaculture.org] |
Gu Hongxing, director of Bangkok's China Cultural Center and China Tourism Office, said film can not only introduce one's national culture, but also reflect unique social landscapes. Film has become an important part of cultural exchange between countries and enhance mutual understanding among people around the world.
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Yang Xin, Chargé d'affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Thailand, speaks at the opening ceremony. [Photo provided to Chinaculture.org] |
Yang Xin, Chargé d'affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Thailand, said since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Thailand 45 years ago, the mutual trust between the two countries has continued to deepen, economic and trade cooperation has expanded, cultural exchanges have become closer, and all-around cooperation has achieved fruitful results. Both China and Thailand have a vast film market. As a traditional project of cultural exchanges between China and Thailand, the Bangkok Chinese Film Festival has laid a solid foundation for film cooperation between the two countries for 15 years and will add new drive to the promotion of cultural exchanges and cooperation between China and Thailand.
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Itthiphol Kunplome, Thailand's minister of culture, speaks at the opening ceremony. [Photo provided to Chinaculture.org] |
Thailand's Minister of Culture Itthiphol Kunplome said in his speech the governments and people of Thailand and China have been in constant exchange. Cooperation in various fields has developed steadily, and the film festival is another important event to further promote cultural exchanges between the two countries. The people of the two countries can promote their understanding of the cultures of both sides through films, and promote friendly relations and cooperation in other perspectives.
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