Editor’s Note: Today’s collection centers on the keyword “culture“ and provides the newest information on Zhejiang’s maneuvers of building a culture-pervasive society and narratives of telling moving Chinese stories. 

1. Quzhou is doubling down on its effort to build a culture-thriving village

The countryside is a key spatial carrier of traditional culture. Empowering it with an uprising cultural industry is a testified way of exploration. Yudong countryside in Quzhou deconstructs the shackle of the top-down transmission model and sets deep roots in folk arts. With 800 permanent villagers and 326 able to paint, the village harvested more than 30 million yuan from multifarious creative cultural products and the local’s net annual income rose to 40 thousand yuan. In the long term, villagers worked in fields in the daytime and picked up painting brushes at night—a lifestyle pattern keeps continued for decades which is a key component in building beautiful countryside. 

2. Zhejiang—Aksu art exhibition for special children was unveiled

15 May marks the 32nd National Day of helping the disabled. The art exhibition was co-organized and co-supported by a stream of public programs, middle schools, and welfare organizations, which displayed more than 100 pieces of artwork contributed by children receiving special care and sectioned into three parts themed “Embracing Asian Games”, “Splendid civilization”, and “Great home”. An official of the Department of Education of Zhejiang Province said they hope the display to be a stage to showcase children’s independence, optimism, high self-esteem, and ambition. Apart from art education, Zhejiang has invested nearly 30 million yuan to improve the quality and scale of special education for the disabled in the Aksu area.

3. "Lying" on the bed, traveling across China

Tourism is remorselessly hurt by COVID-19, and so is the tourist. However, we’re still equipped with other access to see the big world. Since the book Flashing China: Meet Unknown Self firstly was published by Zhejiang Photography Press recently, it ranked high on the bestseller list of traveling. Written by Wang Fuhe professor, a faculty of the School of Humanities at the Zhejiang University of Technology shares his traveling experience with delicate photos and graceful words with readers who are eager to go out but are not allowed by the pandemic. Different from other paper prints, the book also provides voice recordings and some literary elements, a trick to give readers an all-sense experience so as to achieve “Yunyou”—traveling by imagination triggered by vivid descriptions and true pictures. 

4. Zhejiang launched a series of activities to embrace the arrival of International Museum Day.

Centering on unleashing the power of museums and bridging the gap between museums and society, all provinces across Zhejiang designed a galaxy of exhibitions and social education scenarios to enliven the well-preserved antiques with characteristics of profound history and culture and boost people’s cultural confidence. Hangzhou takes the lead in dispersing the charm of history, with an all-encompassing research and study route marked by its Song dynasty taste. Other municipal districts aren’t idle. They combined unique cultural heritage and accumulation with up-to-date AI and data cloud technology.  

Editor: Fan Wenwu