On February 23, the activity of "Diplomats Look at China - Perception of Beijing Mentougou Poetic Lantern Festival" was held in Dangu Business District, Mentougou District, Beijing. More than 200 envoys from 66 countries including Jordan, Austria, Thailand, Brazil, representatives of international organizations such as the Asian Development Bank and the European Union and their families walked into Mentougou to participate in the Lantern Festival garden party, learn about intangible cultural heritage, perform theatrical performances, taste special food, and appreciate the poetry and painting of Mentougou as an ecological conservation area.
Junzhuang drums, Taiping drums, Yangge, car clubs, dragon dances. At 10 o'clock in the morning, performances full of Mentougou regional characteristics and local flavor were staged one after another, and diplomats, representatives of the diplomatic mission in China and their entourage took out their mobile phones to watch and take pictures. Among them, some applauded the performers in Chinese, and some learned about the origin and history of the show from the interpreters around them, and the scene was very lively.
After a while, with the sound of a gong, the Lantern Festival garden party officially kicked off, and everyone gathered around the big gong and picked up the gong hammer one after another to experience the ritual sense of "sounding the gong to open the market". Not only that, the diplomats also received the exclusive "passport book" for the event, and started the journey of collecting stamps and punching in Mentougou.
The antique booth layout, the lantern curtains in the style of the national tide, the dazzling variety of goods, and the tempting food snacks make people dizzy. In front of the intangible cultural heritage booths such as paper-cutting, Beijing embroidery, and gourd carving, the diplomats lingered and stopped for a long time to feel the traditional New Year's flavor of "Chinese style". The booth of "Jingxi Story" was crowded with people, and the members of the mission were attracted by the charm of cultural and creative products such as "Great Wall Bricks" and "Glass Beasts". In front of the special snack stalls, delicacies such as sugar gourd and Aiwowo have become popular goods for accompanying families and children.
Talking about the feeling of participating in the garden party, the Bahamas ambassador Paulette Bethel said that he felt the breadth and profundity of Chinese culture, and was also "circled" by down-to-earth games and small toys, and experienced the taste of the Chinese New Year.
In order to let the diplomatic missions in China better understand Beijing and understand Beijing, since 2023, the Beijing Service Bureau for Diplomatic Missions, the Beijing Municipal People's Information Office, and the Beijing Municipal People's Foreign Affairs Office have planned and launched foreign cultural exchange brand activities such as "Diplomats See China", "One District, One Product", and "Diplomatic Missions in China Feel Beijing", and invited diplomats in China to visit and experience various districts in Beijing in depth, which have been well received by everyone.
The Mentougou District event is the first event of the Year of the Dragon, and next, it will also lead the envoys in China to other districts of Beijing to organize a series of cultural exchange and experience activities, show the charm of China's excellent traditional culture, and tell the story of the development of the capital in the new era.