The Chinese Ministry of Culture and the Hunan Provincial Department of Culture hosted the 4th Cultural Discovery Tour for Diplomats in China from December 5 to 8. The tour was focused on Hunan province in a bid to expand understanding and appreciation of Chinese culture.[Photo provided to Chinaculture.org]

The Chinese Ministry of Culture and the Hunan Provincial Department of Culture hosted the 4th Cultural Discovery Tour for Diplomats in China from December 5 to 8. The tour was focused on Hunan province in a bid to expand understanding and appreciation of Chinese culture.

Guest diplomats included M. Fazlul Karim, ambassador to China from Bangladesh, and Elizabeth T. Te, the Philippines’ charge d’affaires in China. South Africa, Senegal, Spain, Vietnam, Uruguay, Ukraine, Belarus, Switzerland, and Venezuela were represented by their cultural or political counselors or first, second or third consular secretaries.

The diplomats were welcomed at a banquet in Changsha on the evening of Dec 5 by Li Hui, director of the Hunan Provincial Department of Culture, and Chen Fafen, deputy director of the Bureau for External Cultural Relations of the Ministry of Culture, both of whom described the tour’s purpose of creating friendship and appreciation between China and national representatives of other countries. Karim and Xiang Lili, vice governor of Hunan province, also addressed the gathering.