Shanxi's heritage takes the spotlight in Geneva

Shanxi Daily, one of the event's sponsors, for instance, was showing its efforts to integrate cultural assets with daily life.

Among its exhibits were the sauce dishes, which were decorated with patterns featuring Shanxi's landmark cultural attractions, including Pingyao Ancient City and the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda.

The exhibits drew the attention of Jia Guide, China's permanent representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva and other international organizations in Switzerland.

"Embedding ancient Chinese cultural elements into ordinary tableware is an innovative idea," Jia said. "It can arouse interest in China and Shanxi among overseas users."

The exhibition had indeed attracted visitors' attention to Shanxi. After immersing themselves in Shanxi's ICH assets, many visitors, who were not so familiar with the province, began to browse maps of Shanxi on their smartphones and even talked about plans to visit.

During his visit, Matthew Wilson, ambassador of Barbados to the United Nations Office at Geneva, praised the exhibition as a showcase of exquisite Oriental craftsmanship, demonstrating the cultural charm of China in a vivid manner.

Shanxi International Communication Center, the organizer of the exhibition, used the event as an opportunity to promote Shanxi's cultural exchanges with Europe and the rest of the world.

During the event, the center showed a number of its documentaries to visitors. The documentaries included World Youth Meet Ancient Chinese Architecture, which covered an international volunteers' workshop for repairing cultural relics in Pingyao, and Spokesperson for Ancient Buildings, which featured young foreigners visiting lesser-known ancient buildings scattered in Shanxi's rural areas.

Meanwhile, the Shanxi Radio and Television Administration brought a series of short dramas to the event, introducing Shanxi's cultural heritage sites and intangible cultural heritage, narrated from local and international perspectives.

Liu Jie, Hao Hong and Zhang Xing contributed to this story.